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00:00:00 Councillor Wegener: Tuesday, December 5th, 2023, I declare the meeting open and acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi people, and we pay our respects to their elders past, present, and emerging. We have no presentations and no deputations, and I note that committee members Brian Stockwell and the Mayor Stewart is in the room, but we will have, we have Karen Finzel, Councilor Karen Finzel online. And Karen, can you hear us? Councillor Finzel: Yes, I can. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Councillor Wegener: Okay, should, we need a resolution that, that, that, that, that, okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Seconded. Councillor Wegener: Moved by the Mayor, and seconded by Councilor Stockwell. Let's put it to a vote. All in favor? Speaker 2: See none of us. Do I need to read that? Councillor Wegener: And according to section 254K, the local government's act. Speaker 6: I'm so sorry. Councillor Wegener: Karen Finzel approved to attend the meeting, dated the 5th of December, 2023 via Microsoft Teams.
00:01:00 Okay, again, I have a mover and seconder for the minutes from the November V&E meeting. Moved by the Mayor, and seconded by Brian. Let's go. I have a second. Yep. Yeah, let's vote on that. All in favor? Yes. Thank you. Pomona Placemaking Pilot, we have Michelle, Michelle Tucker here to walk us through this fantastic program. Speaker 4: Thanks, Councilor Tom. This report will provide an update on the Pomona Place Pilot. To date, including the committee engagement process, and prevents the Pomona Place Plan engagement summary report to Council for endorsement. Committee and stakeholder engagement was understood. It was undertaken from the 16th of August until the 9th of October for a period of seven and a half weeks in total.
00:02:00 Over 500 people participated in a diverse range of activities with 250 people completing our online survey, which was a fabulous result. The project included a diverse range of engagement activities with the following consistent messages or themes coming from the community. Pomona is a special and highly valued place. The natural environment is a defining feature of local identity. Pomona is loved for its welcoming, close-knit community. Pomona is loved for its walkable scale. But people would like to make it easier to get around, particularly for pedestrians. Manage the impacts of heavy vehicles and trucks through the town and village. Provide more diverse recreation opportunities. Opportunities for young people were identified. And people love and value Pomona's creative community and culture. And finally, supporting small local business was also a highlight of the consultation. So this report will also outline the next steps in the process, which include investigating the best process for developing and delivering a place plan in conjunction with the community and other stakeholders.
00:03:00 Another round of community consultation once the draft is written. And some potential quick win projects and a monitoring and evaluation report on the process of the pilot. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Great. Well, councillors, any questions? No. All right. I've got a big one to start with, if you guys are still working on it. It's fantastic. You know, there's so much consultation. As a council, we get this information back. And it's a huge question, but what can we do to, I know that that's the next step, but legally, or I guess like in our charter from the state to do these things, because the people, the community wants this, yes. But are there other interests like the stakeholders of the state, you know, wanting to increase
00:04:00 our population here dramatically, which may counter, you know, what the people want in the report, and there may be tension there. Is that something that you think about on the very big picture? Speaker 4: It's always something that comes out through community consultation, depending on the community that you're talking to. There are a number of different processes we deal with all those. So from a council perspective, you know, we look at growth through the SEQ regional plan and the planning scheme. We look at housing through our housing strategy. So the outcomes of this can feed into those separate processes. But this process is a separate, again, this is actually about how council can work better with the community and in partnership with the community. So really our, you know, our mandate really is to work with community and that they own the process and they run the process. So it'll be us working with, you know, our particular assets and resources that we have in conjunction with the community to deliver something that aligns with the values of that particular community.
00:05:00 Councillor Wegener: Yeah. So when it comes to the museum and, you know, the field and the small community buildings like that, we have a lot of say in what happens, obviously. Speaker 6: Yes. Councillor Wegener: When it comes to private buildings, we have slightly less say, but when it comes to, you know, the pressure from the state saying you're going to put a lot of people here, a lot more people than you have, then we have even less say. Is that accurate? So there's a kind of a gradient of what we can and can't do and expect. I guess the expectations of the people need to be in line with what we can and can't deliver. Speaker 4: And it's our role too, to actually inform that community as well and work with them in partnership to actually, you know, push back against those upper levels as well in terms of, you know, providing and making sure that our places are liveable and in character and have their unique identity that they do. But yeah, I guess for us, it's always that role of working with community through those
00:06:00 higher state hierarchies and federal hierarchies to deliver a plan that's unique for that community. So yeah, we do have a role, but like you said, it's, you know, we're really manned. We're really mandated by those types of processes that sit above us. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Well, I think it's actually, you know, you have something to say here because, you know, if we could say another community doesn't have this vast pile of information, you know, with actual responses from the community saying, this is what we want. So if they, you know, if the powers from above come over and say that to New South Junction, if we're saying, you know, we're going to do this, well, we don't have all this community input saying, no, we don't want that, we want this. And you can actually, so it's actually a democracy demands that people are listened to through the process and this can help them on, again, fight against the bigger system as well as the smaller system. Thanks, Kim. Hi.
00:07:00 Speaker 6: Hi. Hi, Tom. Just to contribute to the conversation, you're right, there are hierarchies of influence in terms of what we can control and what we can guide in a place. And when council owns property or there's community buildings and things like that, there's a greater level of influence. Then there's the private development where the planning scheme can guide. And things like the place plan can have influence around design, character, how the place looks and feels. And then there's things like the SEQ regional plan and state policies. What I will say is that we've been successful in getting Pomona identified as a significant place in the SEQ regional plan. And it talks about the character of Pomona and the village feel and the significance of the environment. So that's, we've had that enshrined in the SEQ regional plan. So yes, there are, there's additional growth coming to South East Queensland. And Noosa has had some pressure to take a share of that growth.
00:08:00 But it is informed by our local capacity and what our planning scheme can deliver. So there's been a two-way process over the last couple of months where we've been able to influence that and definitely work like this, as Michelle's outlined, helps feed back up the line about the significance of our villages, you know, and Pomona obviously being one that we've got a spotlight on. And at the moment around how important these places are, the quality of life and character and environment and livability for people. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. So that, no, that answers the question that it is, yeah. Realistic expectations for the people, what it can deliver. But the real thing is that when you could say, well, we've done this. And when somebody's up there in some higher office just saying, well, what do you know? Are you sure? Say, yeah, we know. We actually really have this information down. This is exactly what we want and this is where we're going to go and this is what the community
00:09:00 wants us to do. Speaker 4: Yep. Absolutely. Yep. Councillor Wegener: It's a big deal. Yeah. So sorry. I stretched away from the actual report. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. It's interesting. It's a question of clarification. In the report it talks about participants were also asked to vote from a list of words. I take it they were also phrases. Yes. That Black Press best represented their vision for Pomona in 10 years' time. And the top five were, you know, stand out with a strong sense of community. And that was probably the reason we chose Pomona as a pilot because that was sort of something socially connected. So it was colourful. Mm. And that was, that's the only one that stands back to me and saying, is that all they were given? Like colourful as a word? Yep. Like to choose from? Speaker 4: Yes. But then, you know, people were asked if they wanted to elaborate on what that meant. They wrote that down as well. So yeah. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. It's interesting because, you know, to me that it's, part of Pomona is actually the timber of the tin, not necessarily making it brighter.
00:10:00 And so it's interesting what colourful actually meant for people. Speaker 4: Yeah. Oh, you mean by character? Yes. Yeah. Character. Yeah. Colourful people. Yeah. Eclectic people. Yeah. You know, creative people. Those types of things. Yeah. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That explains it. Speaker 6: Yeah. Not physical colour. Speaker 4: Not colour. Speaker 6: Tom, Karen's got a hand. Councillor Wegener: Oh, sorry. Karen. Councillor Finzel, please. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Good morning and thank you everyone for the report. It was a, it's a wonderful read. And it's a good reflection of the town I live in and have called home since the early 80s. So I'm really excited. I'm looking forward to this. Right on page seven, in number eight, it says we're a vibrant, creative hub. And that might help understand the reflection of this colourful community and all it embraces. It's a very creative community. I'm very interested in looking at moving forward. On page four, we've got outline actions for delivery by council and community and stakeholders
00:11:00 over the next 10 years. I'm interested in how we're going to map that out and how we're going to ensure that these things are implemented, budgeted for, and a timeline to show the community that we are taking action. That we do something. That we stand behind what we're doing. And that nothing will be missed along the way. When can we expect the outline for actions for delivery to come before us? And how are we going to prioritise that? Speaker 4: Thanks, Karen. So we basically will be, after the elections, we'll be going back out to the community to help us draft and prioritise actions. So we really will rely on the community's feedback to prioritise some of those key projects. I mean, looking at the report, there is quite a few of them. So we really do need to look at prioritising and looking at the best value moving forward and what the community wants and the outcomes.
00:12:00 So that'll all come up through the drafting of the plan. And so that will be a process which will commence probably through April, May, in conjunction with the community. And then we'll present back to council with what the community has identified. And that will also include avenues of support for the community. So that will sit within that plan. And we'll have timelines associated with actions as well. And so what will happen through the pilot process, it's, you know, as an organisation, it's, you know, for us to look at as well in terms of how we deliver these projects. But they can then be identified in forward capital works plans or operational business planning as well, to make sure that, you know, that's continued on and what's in the plan is delivered. Speaker 6: Thank you. Just further to that, Karen, in terms of your comment about how will we track and how will we monitor. So the plan might, you know, it would probably at least be a five year plan. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. Speaker 6: So there'll be annual reporting on achievement against the plan.
00:13:00 And as you know, we undertake the liveability survey. So we've got a baseline in terms of sort of indicators for liveability for Pomona. So we'll do that survey again, possibly twice during that period. To help track, you know, to change and improvement. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. And then will that inform council when it comes to budget, like how soon do we prepare a budget? Perhaps that's a question through to the CEO to deliver on the action items. You know, I have concerns, having lived tip for term, that, you know, if we had hardened Pomona, we've had several things, you know, we've had, you know, we've had, you know, done in the past and some of those projects still have not been delivered in this community. So I really make sure that we do a really successful rollout of projects here and we
00:14:00 can have a council that our community is proud of and can say that we have action and delivered, you know, what we say we're going to do, given the amount of time and investment that we have all put into the Pomona Place pilot project and the engagement we've received from our community. So I really want to make sure that we have, you know, really transparent process, how we mark what we're saying we're going to do and how we're going to deliver it. So through the CEO, what assurances can you offer? Speaker 1: Thank you, Councillor. This report and the next steps will inform our budget process. So our budget process starts almost now. Really, realistically, and we get it signed off in June prior to the end of the financial year, starting the starting the 24, 25 financial year. So during that period, we'll be looking at this, we'll be using this to inform our budget
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00:15:00 and and and we've got a feedback on that, I'm not sure if that's yours, Karen, or. Speaker 6: I think the microphone's on. Speaker 1: But that will inform our budget process. Anyway, and so we'll be looking at what projects we can physically deliver and make sure that what we do select are ones that that are possible to deliver in that period and you know, it's a long this is a long term process is not something that you're going to say we'll knock it all out in one year. This is over 10 years here. So this is this making sure we take off the bites that we can actually deliver on and and most most effective in the short term and then medium and long term. Speaker 6: Just adding to that, we have got some funding this year, Karen, to do some Councillor Finzel to do some quick wins. So we will look to how we can start the process in terms of getting some quick wins. And we've always always maintained through this process that the delivery of this plan can't be funded through council alone. It is about community, it is about business, it is about grant funding, you know, a whole
00:16:00 range of sources of funding will be looked at in the development of the plan. Yeah. So we've got a lot of funding to help, you know, state agencies, all of those sorts of things to help implement the actions of the plan. Councillor Finzel: That's fantastic. I love the collaborative process. And I think that's a great way of leadership moving forward. The main thing is accountability that we do uphold our, you know, our wording community and that we ensure that what we say we're going to do, we're going to deliver and we're going to deliver in those timeframes. So I want to ensure we have excellence in council and that, again, it's not just rhetoric, but we action what we set out to do. So I'm looking forward to moving ahead in the future and definitely looking forward to those regular reports back to council. Strong connection with community and looking forward to further consultation to achieve the collective goals that we're seeking through this project.
00:17:00 Thank you. Mayor Stewart: I have a question. Kim, thank you. Thank you very much for this. Thank you. Question in regard to, you know, feedback. There's a lot of young families that have moved into Pomona. You know, younger demographic. What was the narrative around a couple of things? Housing. Housing affordability. I know this is, I know we're doing a place making, but it all ties in. Is that then determines transport, determines car parking, determines the whole kit and caboodle. So what was the narrative around that? What was the narrative around ecotourism? What was the narrative about driving a business out there and small business and providing jobs? Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. So I guess in terms of with younger, newer families, there was a strong sense of housing affordability not being achievable and pushing residents out of the town. And then it also came up around aged care as well to the other end of the spectrum.
00:18:00 There's no, there's no, you know, where for people to transition and stay in community once, you know, they can't independently. live anymore. So that was a key thing. You know, for young families, it was the selection of beautiful parks and playgrounds and things. Everything was walkable and easy to get to. The schools, you know, were easy to get to, but issues came up about children getting to and from school to town. So that was a, that was. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Safely. Speaker 4: Safely. That was a critical thing that came up time and time again with young families. In terms. Yeah. I think that we've pretty much aligned with the general community around the character identity. They really want to promote local business and work better together. And really invest in the town in, in health and wellbeing and those types of things. So really put Pomona on a map that it's really caring for its community and the business community are aligned around that. And in terms of tourism, it was a mixed message, but people really want people, if people are
00:19:00 going to come out and go to the markets. Things like that. They need to be respectful, understand that this is their home and they're happy for people to come provided it's, it's not going to overrun the town and they respect the town for what it is and its values. So. Mayor Stewart: So if they want to put Pomona on the map, is that meaning they want health and wellbeing retreats or like, cause health and wellbeing was such a big, you know, big part of this. How do they want to put Pomona on the map? Speaker 4: Some would say they don't really want to. Mayor Stewart: Sorry, I just thought you said they do. Speaker 4: Oh, in terms of if, if tourism is going to happen and in a sustainable way in the town, they want it to be done in a way that reflects their values. So yeah. So sustainably within sustainable limits and that goes for you know, traffic and transport and getting to and from the town. Mayor Stewart: There's something that is a really, a great place to live. The amenities are really good, if that's what you mean.
00:20:00 Okay, I've got it. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No, we move to motion. Okay, I'll second that. Yeah, it's a good report and it's a good outcome, I suppose, in terms of what the consultation tells us. I think it does, you know, your top five points really focuses in on what Maine is all about. You know, if you look at numbers, special place, heritage and charm, small town, you know, natural environment, the mountain defines the character. Clearing and close community. You mentioned the walkable scale, and, yeah, that's one thing I found, I was only a two year interloper in town, but I found that my dog really appreciated it because he's got about four times as many walks as he does now, and my waistline also benefits from that fact. But, yeah, that is a big thing for Pomona, is that walkable, rideable scale, and, you know, it's one thing that we can build on this one, you know, classical thing to do with a placemaking plan.
00:21:00 The other one, obviously, if everyone knows about the heavy impact, maybe, you know, home in Chika, a short, quick wind project could be D2 or so, and so heavy bags, or skimpy. But, you know, there's obviously an issue to be addressed in traffic calming and things like that, is, you know, there won't be quick winds, so we just have to design that they're the things we can do to make sure that that walkability isn't ruined by a type of traffic that is inconsistent with what we're trying to get to. So, I think there is a lot of pointers in there for good placemaking. I think there's some areas that will require, you know, the community to go away and build down to more. But, yeah, I think it's a good outcome, and I'm sure that we get to evaluate the process next time, or if Zinc Council does. It has been a good pilot in terms of some of the learnings about how to continue to consult, and community expectations, and the difference of engaging people in small towns versus big cities, Speaker 4: et cetera, so, thank you, and well done.
00:22:00 Councillor Wegener: Quick question, well, it was noted a few times of supporting small local businesses, and for empty shops that aren't being used to, you know, facilitate, you know, some business or a community to go in and use the empty shop. Is that on the record? I mean, I didn't really notice that there are many empty shops, but are there? Speaker 4: There's a few, particularly down stations straight around the corner, but that was really about, you know, activating footpaths and things like that, and giving, you know, small business a little bit of a start-up. So, there's similar programs run across Australia, where there's kind of a relationship Councillor Finzel: between the business, the landowner, Speaker 4: and people wanting to use that building for a small time while it's vacant. So, that'd be something that we probably would investigate further with the Chamber, around how do we activate those shop frontages in times when there's no business,
00:23:00 no active tenant in there, but that's something we can investigate through the process with them. Councillor Wegener: Well, I would recommend, you know, doing that. I know from my surfing life, my friends would open up surf shops in, you know, abandoned buildings and so forth, and I said, you know, buy the building, buy the land. They said, we can't afford the land. Well, of course, you know, the surf shop's there, the active artist business is there, and the land value skyrockets. It happens each and every single time, so I hope that the business owners realize that actually by putting some active community business in there that supports the community, they actually increase their land value, and as soon as it'll be rented up, and then the poor people that went in there and made it cool will have to leave and go someplace else, and such is life. Next is, I think a message going out, like what next at an easy win, might just be support your local business with your wallet.
00:24:00 Like, I go to the Bulls Club. The Pomona Bulls Club is, you know, it's a fantastic place. It is a piece of history, you know, it's nearly like the Majestic Theater. It's almost a museum. It's fantastic, but I think it's just empty, and I know that the chefs kind of come and go from there, it seems, due to lack of actual public support, and it's, you know, really, really nice. And so I'm hoping that perhaps, you know, if you love Pomona, spend your money there, because that's what it actually takes. Speaker 6: Thank you, great report. I think it's exciting. Councillor Finzel's got a hand up. Councillor Wegener: Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Yes, thank you. Thank you, and on the back of that, I'd just like to make a comment. You know, when heritage is being prioritized, the heritage museum, sitting in Factory Street, that's part of our heritage walk, and for some time, the issues around there, around maintenance and safety, to, you know, going to the museum, the front stairs, you know,
00:25:00 can't be used. So I think, like, you know, council, if we're gonna deliver this stuff, I would like us to get a report and a review of where we're moving, and these are these things about the action items. This is where community, you know, we need to engender trust and go, yeah, we can all sit around this table, we can talk about all this good stuff, and it's fantastic, I love the aspirations where community wants to go, but as a council, I feel we've gotta deliver practical solutions, and surely, you know, when we talk about a short-term delivery of something, surely the front stairs of the museum could be something that can be prioritized, so that when people come to visit our town, and when we have a town that we wanna be a crowd of, that we wanna promote as a heritage place to come and enjoy, I think surely we can look at things like that as an easy win for win-win outcomes for our community and visitors alike to the region, and to promote that if we are a heritage town, that we actually value and appreciate that.
00:26:00 So through the CEO, I'm just wondering, is there a way that we can action that as an operation as moving forward into the new year? Speaker 1: Again, that comes through the budget process. Councillor, they're the initiatives that are brought to the table, and if they get the support of the council through our limited, we have got limited budgets, but if that's the case, it becomes a priority, then that's where it gets taken up. Councillor Finzel: Thank you, and just moving on from that, can I also request a review of the heritage levy and the policy to see if there's a way that we can have a review of that to look at how we can better support the heritage levy and how we use it in our commission? Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's... Sorry, Councillor, that's something that we need to bring to the table at a future meeting or outside of this meeting that we can discuss. Councillor Finzel: All right, I'll withdraw that, I apologise. No problem, that's all right.
00:27:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. I'm not sure if anyone in the room can answer. My understanding is the museum is under a lease to the community group, and the question is whether it's in some of those we're responsible for maintenance and others. Speaker 1: We'd have to look at that. I honestly don't know, so we would address that as part of the overall investigation of it. Yeah, sure. Councillor Wegener: I can raise a comment as a question. Did you know that Mexico has more museums in Mexico City than any other city in the world? And it is booming. The culture is so much stronger and more positive than it was 30 years ago. Did you know that? Speaker 6: I didn't know that, Councillor. Thank you for that question. Councillor Wegener: Every day we like to learn something new. I do now. Museums are important, and just back to what Carolyn was saying. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. Councillor Wegener: I see any other... Mayor Stewart: No, thank you for the great report. I have finished. Thank you. Really good report.
00:28:00 Appreciate all your hard work and great community feedback too, because this is a lot of weekend work. This is a lot of out of time, so really want to acknowledge that, and thank you. Thanks. Well done, Michelle. Councillor Wegener: All in favour? Karen? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Councillor Wegener: Okay, carried unanimously. Speaker 1: Thanks, Michelle. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sorry. Councillor Wegener: Okay. Speaker 6: Michelle. Absolutely, Michelle. Councillor Wegener: Next we have our favourite monthly delegation of a... Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'm afraid. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Yeah. Planning applications decided by delegated authority, and we have Patrick Murphy here to walk us through it, or just probably ask questions. Speaker 3: Yeah, as you're aware, it's a monthly report detailing all those applications that we decided on the delegation.
00:29:00 32 were decided for the month of October, with one matter being decided by council. Councillor Wegener: Just give us a moment to find it in our notes here. What page is it here? Mayor Stewart: It's page 89. It's a bit hard. Yeah, page 89. 29290. Councillor Wegener: There we go. First, I've got to ask you about number seven. A windmill that's 15 metres high. That's right. Speaker 3: So it was the 36th River Park Drive, I think it was. There was a windmill that was constructed without an approval. It came in for retrospective approval. A piece of infrastructure that's not a building associated with it, with rural industry, can be 15 metres in height. This was just over 16 metres in height. For all intents and purposes, it's probably negligible in terms of its appearance.
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00:30:00 So that type of structure was supported. Councillor Wegener: Brian, are there many other windmills that you've come across in New Seshara? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, there should be more. I'm just wondering what triggered it. Speaker 3: I think it was a complaint. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, okay. Speaker 3: Yeah. Someone observed it. Yeah. From the waterway. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 3: That's right. Councillor Wegener: But if they're under 15 metres, then is the code accessible? Speaker 3: It would have been accepted development. Yeah. Right. Councillor Wegener: Any other questions, team? Yeah. Number 13. Number 13. That's Atunga Heights. That's a different address. That's correct.
00:31:00 Speaker 3: Yeah. That was seeking exemption certificate. This one at 24 Atunga Heights, a different address to the court case. I was making sure. Councillor Wegener: I didn't try to pull a fast one. No. Anything else? I'll move this. Second it. Second it. Karen, any... A little bit late, but... Karen, any questions? Councillor Finzel: No. No questions, Mr Chair. Thank you for asking. Councillor Wegener: Okay. Let's put it to the vote. All in favour? Yes. Okay. It's... Speaker 1: Unanimous. Councillor Wegener: Unanimous. Thank you. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you. That's fine. Councillor Wegener: Great. Well, we're up to the WAPR Environment Strategy Monitoring Report, year four. We have Camille. You can just let loose now, because you have nothing to lose. As Camille will be leaving us soon for elevation. Speaker 5: Oh, no. Don't know about elevation. Just a different approach, I guess.
00:32:00 Speaker 6: So, yeah. Speaker 5: Good morning, everyone. So, I guess we went through it briefly in the workshop. But the report presents the outcomes of the Environment Strategy Review and the Implementation Plan Review for year four, which is for the 1st of July 2022 to the 30th of June 2023. So, the report presented Council's progress against the 12 targets and strategies nominated in the Environment Strategy, as well as the actions, the progress of 42 actions nominated in the Implementation Plan. So, overall, most of the strategies are progressing towards their targets, with several strategies being on target for completion. There were five strategies which are currently unable to be assessed due to insufficient monitoring data or monitoring methods currently being unavailable. In terms of the 42 actions, two are complete, 22 are on target, 17 are progressing, and
00:33:00 one action is scheduled for the future. And there were no actions requiring attention noted in the report for the last financial year. So, in terms of the key highlights, I guess, there's been over $1.78 million invested in community organisations through the Environment Grants Program between 2019-2020 financial year and 2022-23 financial year. Forty-three per cent of the Noosa Shire is currently on target. We also completed an acquisition of a 69-hectare property at Federal last financial year. And we've almost completed the fine-scale vegetation mapping project as well, which
00:34:00 is due to be delivered in December this year. The Noosa Oyster Reef project also continues to indicate success, and there's an increase in subspecies richness between the 2022 and 2023 surveys. Again, there's an increase in subspecies richness between the 2022 and 2023 surveys. Again, there's good progress made in the diversion of waste. So, we've increased by seven per cent between 2021-22 financial year and last financial year, and we're on track to meet the state target of 61 per cent diversion by 2025. Our greenhouse gas emissions have also decreased by 2.3 per cent, and over 790 kilowatts of solar has now been installed on council buildings and facilities, which is an increase of 100 kilowatts since the 2021-22 financial year. So, the other thing highlighted in the report, obviously, is resourcing for council staff moving forward to ensure that we continue to meet the targets and actions of the environment
00:35:00 strategy. So, we had nominated those in the finance section of the report, but the wildlife, sorry, the fauna management officer, his contract is due to expire this financial year, so we have put up a budget submission seeking an ongoing permanent role for a senior wildlife management officer, as well as ongoing positions for the conservation partnerships officer and a flying fox management officer moving forward. Oh, and we also need to include... Oh, and we also need to include... ...an additional item, which is to authorise a CEO to make minor amendments prior to publication. We've had a couple of minor errors that we've just picked up in the final review, so, yeah. Speaker 1: Which is pretty standard for our recommendations.
00:36:00 Yes. And the size of the report. And the size of the report. And the size of the report. And the size of the report. And the size of the report. And the size of the report. And the size of the report. Speaker 6: Yes, that's right, so... One of the councils are happy to add that. Councillor Wegener: Oh, yeah. Do we move to add this right now? Okay. Speaker 5: It says IMD. Councillor Wegener: Okay , do we need to read that out? Would the movers want to read that out? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Just... Just to part B, what? My only question, we haven't had anyone request this go to the general? So I had a few questions before we moved it anyway. Councillor Wegener: Well, so we haven't actually moved, I just, I asked, do we need to read out just D, which... Oh, okay, so we... Deputy Mayor Stockwell: You want to move it now? I'll move it with the addition of D, which reads, authorise the CA to make minor amendments prior to publication. Councillor Wegener: Okay, I'll second that. Speaker 1: Okay. Councillor Wegener: So where are we, so that... Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll reserve my right to talk to the motion.
00:37:00 Councillor Wegener: Yeah, okay, yeah, this is a very small procedure, but we actually want to get back to talking about the report. To get back to the report, one thing I think that I've noticed is Dave, I think Dave O'Gorman, you know, he spent a lot of time with fly foxes this year. And so it seems that we're often, you know, caught in a situation where we have somebody that's doing other stuff. Who all of a sudden has to deal with, you know, this, which is a huge problem to a small amount of people. But, you know, it's quite a problem and it takes a lot of resources. And are, is this, how do you, how would you respond to that? Can we be more pivotal, I guess, to speak in the future so that projects that we want to happen aren't delayed because our small staff has to go off and deal with an emergency?
00:38:00 For months. Speaker 5: I guess it's one of the things that's been highlighted in the environment strategy. So obviously council's role has changed since 2019. Legislative requirements have changed, which have put the responsibility onto council to manage flying fox influxes. So that, I think the resourcing impost on council has not necessarily been considered by the state. We have spoken to Department of Environment and Science about whether we could use, they've got a huge bucket of money for flying foxes. Whether we could use that to fund a flying fox officer. They've said no, unfortunately. So, as you say, I guess it's having good comm strategies in place when we have these influxes, as well as clear, I guess, delineations of council's role and our limitations in terms of what we can do during an influx. So, yeah, it's one of those things we could get an influx of little reds, you know, at Wallace Park or somewhere else. And unfortunately, it just means that I think...
00:39:00 Yeah, we need to put projects on hold to address those influxes at the moment, until, yeah. Speaker 6: Yeah, I think what I, that's absolutely right. There's a bit of, you know, legislative change and cost shifting, essentially, but also the nature of the environment portfolio. And here we go, Ben Derrick, the manager of environment, may want to comment on this. But the nature of the portfolio means we're both strategic and operational, which means we're, you know, we're doing long term planning. For our environment and the strategy is our guiding framework, but we also have to be responsive and reactive and, you know, whether it's to flying foxes, whether it's to algal blooms, whether it's to bushfires, whether it's to, you know, that's the nature of the portfolio needs to be across both. And I'm not sure that's going to change, Tom. We just need to find a resource capability that can work between both of those. And, you know, we're innovative.
00:40:00 We're in pretty good shape. Other than the areas potentially that Camille's highlighted in the report around some emerging ongoing resource requirements based on what's happened in the last couple of years, you know, where we thought we could put some temporary resource to it and it's an ongoing issue. Those couple of areas need to be considered. And then, Ben, if you want to comment. Speaker 2: Yeah, addressing the question, Tom, of what are we putting at risk when we have staff? I think we're going to have to effectively check out to be able to focus on issues like flying foxes. And, you know, while marine strandings might be another one, algal blooms is another one. We've got a different different members of staff who do that. So it's about risk. Oh, the priority as well. Yeah, that's right. So it's about risk mitigation as to what programs are we not dealing with while we've got staff focused on those. And we we saw this year with flying foxes that Camille and Dave pretty much checked out for two months. And so there was a whole range of continuity programs that that we had to put on hold. I think Camille's probably dealt with a lot of backlog over the last six months of getting back on track with reporting that we've been doing.
00:41:00 You know, this report's a prime example that there was a lot of work done at the back end of it just purely because we had staff that were allocated to a priority priority project. Now, let's say in a scenario, if we were going to have additional staff to come in, it's not as if they'd be sitting sitting around redundant with nothing to do, waiting for that response. There's enough work to be able to get through that we need to be able to address. We, you know, threatened species and a lot of our other programs, conservation programs and partnership programs that we need to be able to deliver. So, so it's, you know, it's the public sector and local government thing of how much work can we get through, how many resources have we got and where do we draw the limit? Additional resources, we'd definitely be able to get through more if we don't have those additional resources, then we are vulnerable for some of those programs to be delayed. Things like flying foxes, which is starting to emerge again now, and we've, you know, we received an email yesterday at Waratah, they're coming back.
00:42:00 You know, that was the big issue yesterday, last year. Yeah, so they're starting to come back. We know that they may choose that as a preferred roost and this is the Reds. We've got some very, very nervous community members and residents. And so we need to be really reactive for that. So we're getting, starting to get our resources lined up. Yep, we need staff focused on that. Speaker 6: I mean, in terms of being reactive, yes, but what we have been able to do in the last 12 months is get very proactive around Waratah particularly. So we've done a flying fox management plan. You know, we've got a clear plan of action there in terms of how we manage and maintain. That goes so far, you know, there's still community, there's nuisance in the community and many of the impacts that, you know, our plan can only go so far to manage. That's right. Yeah. Speaker 5: And I think having that additional resource of a flying fox officer, you know, they've seen it down at Sunny Coast. You can get out there, do that community education and awareness.
00:43:00 I think that's a big part of it and we went through with the statement of management intent. As you say, doing that proactive engagement, getting that increased understanding and tolerance within the communities is really key because unfortunately there's only so much we can do with flying foxes in terms of management. So yeah, it's about increasing that tolerance within the community as well. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Questions? Councillor Finzel? Councillor Finzel: No, I don't have a comment. Thanks. My hand's not up. Councillor Wegener: Yeah, just throwing it out there to the... Okay. Councillor Finzel: Thanks for asking, Mr Chair. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: There's lots of great work that's been calculated in the report. What I'm looking for, looking at is in regard to our target in terms of climate change and emissions reduction. We, by the table on page 125 of the main report, we've managed to reduce those for over seven years by just under 21%.
00:44:00 But our target is to get another 80% in the next three years. And I looked and I noticed that some of the things that have reduced, appear to have reduced the amount we've reduced. In the last year was perhaps changes to what we can and can't, can and can't count or things that are beyond our control in terms of emissions. But then again, I looked further down and noticed there's been a offset plan has been reduced. But I don't think that's come to council. So is that because we still haven't worked out from what the consultants give us where we're going? We don't appear, you know, I think there is a, the assessment of it somewhere, it's suggested that there's work to be done if we're going to meet the target, which I totally agree with. I think there is a lot of it. But have we got a sequence plan from here on in to how we're going to get to zero emissions
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00:45:00 or what are the scenarios on that? For example, what won't be in here is we've now got to the waste strategy. And some of that's pretty exciting, but it's probably not going to do before 2026 and maybe one of the projects we're looking at in terms of a large solar farm out there may be by 2036. But have we got an agreed step forward on that? Or is it something that we need to bring forward to council to actually look at that and say, well, what is the sensible financial way ahead to achieve this? Speaker 6: Yeah, there's been, there's been a lot of work done in this space, councillor Stockwell. And we had a strategic session with executive last week for two and a half hours on this. We've done the roadmap to zero. So, yes, there has been a report done, a technical report done on options offsetting, which I believe was actually presented to council in a workshop, Pangolin report, some
00:46:00 months ago, I think in about December last year. And that presented, you know, discussed a whole lot of options. We've been weighing up what those options are. But yeah, absolutely, that roadmap to zero, now we've, like you said, the waste strategy's got some innovations and approaches in it. We've gone through every, every one of our scope areas and areas for what we might be able to achieve in the next three years. We're betting that down. We execs were around a whole lot of options and questions and challenges last week. But the next step will absolutely be to bring that to council to go, this is what it looks like. This is what it's going to take if we, if we, to meet our 2026 target. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thanks. Apologies. That must be one of the few workshops on this. Speaker 6: Yeah. It was, it was, I think it was about 12 months ago. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Wegener: I've got just a bigger question to Ben.
00:47:00 We talked about the various community groups, you know, their involvement in developing and working with the council to achieve the goals. And I see the council. I see the council working with Tourism Noosa and across the board with the Thread Lightly program and all these different ways and planting trees. And so Tourism Noosa and the volunteers, there's a gradient between council, community group, volunteers, people out there. And then with Zen, it's tremendous how you have council, community group, Zen, volunteers, all the different stuff they do is fantastic and how it complements with the waste strategy. I'm hoping that, that people also come on board. You know, maybe not a community group, but you know, that they get involved and all that. And then going back and I'll, maybe we'll talk about that. That, that's important. And we talked about how to bring your community involved to help us achieve these goals. And then of course, I'm going to the agriculture and I'll hammer on that forward, ask some
00:48:00 questions about that. But do you see a way that, that, that could happen? Because we, one of the, in the very end here, it says that one of the recommendations is that we need to, there's work that needs to be done on the agriculture side of things. And there isn't a group there that's like Zen or like Tourism Noosa or like the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation. And I guess the big question is how do you see community groups and the community becoming involved in reaching our environment strategy goals? Speaker 2: Yeah. So a few, a few, a few different questions there, Chair. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Speaker 2: I guess with the agriculture aspect, which is more of a start-up there, in terms of facilitating a formal structure and support for community members to be involved, that's more of a start-up program that Council may be able to get involved in. And utilising the community groups, I think Zen's a really good model for that, where
00:49:00 forces by Council, seeded by Council, the small investment that Council has made has delivered a range of projects which far exceed the financial investment. And so using that as a model, I think there's a range of different community groups that could really facilitate for that, where Council could enable those groups through governance support or financial support, just to be able to function as an organisation. And, and partnership programs or the MEC, our alliance programs, can be targeted towards that and enabling that. And I guess the next step then is partnership, you know, partnership agreements, which is similar to NBRF as an example, which is a little bit more investment and a little bit more guarantee of that investment as well. And so it's picking those areas that we want to be, that Council can enable, making sure that there's a groundswell of support and the intent for good governance and broader community involvement. I think agriculture is a really good example of that.
00:50:00 Yeah. So how that looks and feels, it would need a strategy sitting behind it as to where are we targeting. The, the notion of growing, growing local, using local, whether it's backyard, whether it's small lifestyle blocks, whether it's broader agriculture, which is stepping into industry and primary production. So we need to be able to make sure that we know where we're pitching that, if we are stepping into that. So in broad context, yes, partnerships are great because the investment from Council, if well managed and well delivered, can provide a much broader benefit to the Shire. But the enabling mechanisms have to be there. So we need, I think we need a strategy sitting behind that before we, before we start looking and investing in that. Speaker 6: And we have started work on a strategy in sustainability in ECDEV. As you know, Tom, it's, it's a key objective and goal of our corporate plan to look at, you know, rural futures and agribusiness and agriculture. But the, the, the strategic piece has started.
00:51:00 So all of these issues will evolve out of that, that planning process. The only other comment I would make that, and you referred to the importance of our volunteer and community organisations in terms of achieving our environmental strategy. It would simply not be possible to achieve the outcomes that this, that has been achieved through the strategy without the community organisations working together. We had a number of roundtables in terms of prioritising and building the partnerships, which I think has been a fundamental critical piece to the success of the strategy that our environment community organisations and volunteer organisations were involved in its development
00:52:00 and setting the objectives and absolutely been involved in the delivery of it and this report celebrates and highlights absolutely. So many of the objectives and targets have been achieved thanks to the incredible work of our community organisations. We simply couldn't be doing it without them. That's why things like our environment grants program is so important because it does seed fund and create some capacity and the return is so much greater than what we invest. Councillor Wegener: Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, I'm not going to try and pose it as a question, but partly answering your question. The baseline for agriculture, which is something that the state government has done in the past, so my team who looked after sustainable agriculture in South East Queensland, all the projects we do would create the baseline, would record the uptake of best practice standards if there
00:53:00 was such grazing land condition and that was published for a couple of years. So there is some, the Kin Kin catchment, one of the projects we did up there. I've been thinking about this recently. Part of the problem is the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries now don't see the deep agriculture, small scale local, but from my view, there's always a challenge. They work with the big end of town, the industrial agriculture. I think that's a failure of the state government. And also, I was thinking the other day after we had the healthy land and water presentation about how the report cards evolved. And I thought that if we, you know, I'm our shire, the mayor is in the re-catchments, they have a very advanced system. Councillor Stockwell. It is another aspect that we probably should be looking to at larger scales and say well as a region why doesn't South East Queensland have the same system?
00:54:00 So to me part of the answer to our problem of not being able to measure progress is that at a regional and at a state level they aren't investing in our priorities and I think we should be bringing that to their attention. You could say what do you think? Speaker 6: Or did you know? Speaker 5: Yeah and I think I've spoken to Cheyenne about this as well. I think the methodologies are there. It's just as you say there's gaps, certain gaps within the Shire where we would need to have a look at undertaking those field surveys. So yeah I think the data is there. It's just having that strategy to pull it together and identify which is the most suitable. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Definitely all that data historically is collected when there is active projects. Yes that's right. It's easy if you've got a project says what it is basically. But you know there are segments of you know particularly the fatigue agriculture and sustainable horticulture where there is no one providing any specific support to it.
00:55:00 So there's no projects to record progress. Speaker 5: Yeah definitely. Councillor Wegener: That's right. With agriculture that is a big problem. That's right. The AgriHub put out a questionnaire and the feedback we got was you know just skeptical of what are you asking for. You know I'm not going to give you this information. You know I'm not going to give you my address. And with I think that we're it's just it's a funny group of people that are out there that are protective. You know they don't want to be they don't want to put their head up because they're fearful. So that's something we need to address. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: One of the options that we did actually first follow up in that project in Kin Kin and going towards Gympie was a citizen science type measure of carbon which is of interest from Regenerda but from interest to us in terms of emissions.
00:56:00 That's something that we could look at. It's something where the analysis is done can be done by the likes of the capital committee. Yeah. It was a process. Yeah. So the data was sent away to the lab therefore it was less expensive. It was pretty accurate to show you. So that's the sort of thing we can look at as you know the linking because obviously they'd be more interested if they're finding out whether what they're doing with their farming is actually achieving better soil organic matter. Yeah. And for us it's about you know if we're keeping organic matter in the soil and it's not growing up as carbon into the atmosphere. Yeah. So things like that we can look at. Councillor Wegener: Would you say the accounting for nature, we had that presentation and is that on track with what you're saying? Like they're looking at it saying well there's actually money to be made just by keeping the carbon organic matter in the soils that are growing up and along with biochar as well. Had to throw that in. Speaker 6: Yep. Speaker 1: It's waiting for us. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: .
00:57:00 The professor and I feel I've been out of the game for a while. Professor QUT was doing all the measurement about agricultural emissions and all that. He's one of his PhD students from the report. He developed this test. He happens to have a brother who's still living in this junction. So he's here quite often if you want to meet and chat. Councillor Wegener: Okay. Speaker 6: Let's do that. Councillor Wegener: That'd be great content. Yeah. Speaker 6: Amazing. Okay. Councillor Wegener: Do you want to speak to the motion now or do you speak to the report? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Only to say that I think the report and the two-year, the analysis has been very comprehensive and as I read through the report, it's clear that there's a meaningful progress being made on a majority of those strategies. I think as a council we can be happy with those. Obviously some of the, to me, why I raise the climate issues as an example of where I think we're not going to be able to do that. I think the reason why we're not doing enough is that's what causes climate change, is the
00:58:00 whole world focuses on the proactive, on the emergent and the longer term threats to the environment are put off. And that's the whole thing is that people can't see it from one day to the next, therefore it gets kept on being put off. And that's fugitive emissions into the atmosphere that is going to have the most significant impact on the nursery environment over the next 50 years. So that's why I raise it as, you know, if I was going to change the rating on any of those, I would move that one to red. I'm happy that we're doing enough. Are we doing what, you know, the staff who have got their budget are doing an exemplary job of doing the best they can. But I think as a council and in the next council, if we're meaningful, we're going to meaningfully address the biggest problem that the environment faces at a local level, noting that that's something that we're going to have to tackle at a global scale, then that's when the next term of council is really going to have to grapple with. As I said, there's some great concepts we're working on with waste, where 60% of our emissions
00:59:00 are coming from. And there's, to me, it's innovative thinking about the way we value things and how we fund things. That's where the next council can really focus on. So it's not the huge impulse on the rate payer. It's actually a way of doing business that accounts for the cost of pollution. Mayor Stewart: It's actually the cost of carbon. Councillor Wegener: Good. I'll speak to the motion. It's a fantastic report. I mean, my God, you just can't believe how much is happening. When there's this big of a report, it seems to be much bigger in comparison to other things where you only have a small group of people down there. You know, down there. So I'm hoping that when you get much bigger, more eloquent places to work soon, because it's pretty small when you guys have an office down there. And I think that what you do is fantastic. Of course, the whole Shire is your office, I guess, in a way.
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01:00:00 With what Brian was saying, we have Professor Ian Lowe on the board of directors. And my God, you just want to, you know, in despair after listening to him for a while, because he says, you know, he's been writing about climate change for a long time. He says, well, back in 1987 when he started and looking at the hurricane that hit Darwin, well, that was a two. And he said, at that time, he said, someday there's going to be five point cyclones of, you know, category five. And now that they're category five every year, and he says, the problem is that when you have a category five cyclone, similar to what hit Acapulco, is you have a four meter tide on top of that. So you have a push of water that's like a moving tsunami coming through, because the low pressure, water moves up. And you can go four meters in the category side. And if it happens to be high tide through Noosa, we would have a Fukushima situation. It would just be, it would be drastic. So, you know, what he says, the whole climate, you know, it is, like Brian says, it's level
01:01:00 red. You know, we have to do as much as we possibly can, each and every person, as a part of being a human on this planet, this is what you got to do. Individual responsibility for everybody. But aside from that, my gosh, it's a great report. And I'm looking forward, obviously, to the agriculture side of things, because I think that's incredibly important for climate change, for sequestering carbon, for our sustainability, for our climate change response plan, for our community. And to go back to Elaine Bradley, during COVID, they, you know, people didn't want to come to the markets to get the food. And so they were calling. And they realized that most of those people were so old that they actually called a phone tree, where everybody would call up somebody constantly. And they had the list of a couple hundred people there that were called. And only one person died during that time, but, you know, had been, and they found out about it through the phone tree. But that's how these communities kept together, very vibrant and feeling a, you know, a sense of community because of this, the agriculture, because they all need food.
01:02:00 And that, you know, so that, I think food is a very, very important way to maintain a tight community, which is what we need for a climate change response, what we need to move forward, to maintain our, well, just to maintain our standard of living, or our quality of living, not standard of living. As Brian points out to me, that's not the standard of living, it's the quality of living. So thank you very much. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for your continuing hard work. And we're really, really proud of the report. And Camille, thank you for being with us for the time you were, because you are just fantastic, and all the best for your next job in the federal government. Please do not forget about us. There's already been talk about saying, yeah, Camille is there. We've got it in. That's right. Speaker 6: We're part of the climate change. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Speaker 5: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Councillor Wegener: Anybody else like to speak? Karen. Councillor Finzel: Yes, Chair. So I'm going to move forward and look at the future, how we're going to impact climate
01:03:00 change and resilience in our communities. I really like the engagement with our community, because I'm always interested in the social aspects and how we as people engage with our environment, and we live in harmony moving forward. I love the idea that we can increase community resilience and capacity, and I think are the responsible. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, sorry, can you hear me now? Councillor Wegener: Yep, there we go. Councillor Finzel: Any of that? Councillor Wegener: Yep, we can hear you now. Councillor Finzel: Do I go back to the beginning? Councillor Wegener: No, no, no, just maybe 30 seconds. Councillor Finzel: 30 seconds. Councillor Wegener: Not even that. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Last we heard was community response. There we go.
01:04:00 Councillor Wegener: Karen, we got a bad connection. I'm sorry, can you hear me? You keep skipping out. We get about every fourth word. Councillor Finzel: All right, thank you for a great report and all the best, Camille. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. Mayor Stewart: We heard that. Yeah, thank you, Camille. I just won't hold up anyone else's time. I just want to reiterate whatever has been said. Thank you. Appreciate it and all the best. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. It's been an honour to work for Mr Council, so thank you. Good stuff. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Well done. Speaker 5: Thanks. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Council, start off, please. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll go close. And it's only just when you're talking about Tressie and Lowe and the impacts of storm surges, and certainly we've had that potential in Townsville with one of the large cyclones where it had, as predicted, hit at a high tide, there was going to be a very significant wave of a magnitude you were talking about, I think you might have put into the public realm something that's a little bit more concerning than is the case, so our Coastal Hazard Adaptation Plan did model what storm surge would do in Noosa, it wasn't as significant as a Fukushima-type result, it was actually, if I remember correctly, the risk was, you know, it wasn't as significant as a Fukushima-type result, it was actually, if I remember correctly,
01:05:00 it was, there was always going to be a greater risk from flooding from upstream than there was from the ocean. So there's not much difference from memory in the modelling between a 100-year flood length in the catchment versus a 100-year storm surge coming in from the ocean in terms of height. So if people are interested to see whether they're impacted, certainly that modelling is available and to check the lines and see what the risk is. Councillor Wegener: Thank you. Let me correct the record. I did not. That was an exaggeration. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That was an exaggeration. Councillor Wegener: Okay, should we put it to a vote?
01:06:00 All in favour? Karen? Yes, thank you. Unanimous. Speaker 5: Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Hold on, we have time for a report. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: There's nothing further? There's no questions? So we'll close the meeting at 11. 10.37? 10.36. Yeah, 10.36. 10.37, sorry. 10.37. 10.37. 10.37, thank you very much. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Mr Chair. Thank you.