General Committee - February 2024 Transcript

5.1 RAL23/0015 DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION TO RECONFIGURE A LOT (1 LOT INTO 2 LOTS & ACCESS EASEMENT) AT 11 BILLABONG WAY, TEWANTIN (Referred from Planning & Environment Committee Meeting dated 6 February 2024 - Item 5.1 - for further consideration) ¶

▶ 00:01:07· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:02:00 Notably, the development does not comply with performance outcome PO4 of the reconfiguring a lot code. The outcome refers to no additional lots to be created with access off Griffith Avenue. Following conversations with the strategic planning team, the intent behind this requirement is to protect the established character within the estate. The intent behind this requirement is to protect the established character within the estate. We're well and truly above the minimum lot size of 600 square metres and we're looking at maintaining the existing access so we're formalising it in a way and having an access easement over the existing driveway. The non-compliance with the PO is considered appropriate as it continues to uphold the established character and amenity of the estate. In regard to the flood and bushfire hazard present on the lot, the applicant has demonstrated and nominated building envelopes over the premises which achieve the required separation distances of the area where the future dwelling house will be to the hazardous vegetation.

00:03:00 The envelope shows that there's the ability to redevelop the site essentially should they wish to. And all development will be clear of the flood hazard overlay. The flooding component on the existing allotment is very minor and is illustrated in one of the figures in the report as well. Following offline conversations and I suppose questions specific to this application, there has been amended conditions recommended and provided, which I suppose we can touch on later on. As we conclude, but I suppose there is an additional item to condition seven that specifically refers to any future fencing is not to restrict the flow of water, essentially. Councillor Wilkie: So that was my question to Georgina, the suggested change to the motion, which is a fence of minimum or 1.2 metres high, and that would be designed not to restrict flood conveyance.

00:04:00 Is there any issue with that? Speaker 4: And the reduction in height, no, so the main intent behind condition seven is just to make sure that it's clear that where the property ends, essentially, as we do a joint council reserve there, and then I suppose as yeah, that's exactly it, and then it was raised in terms of what sort of impacts this fence could have on the flow of water at the point in time if it was to be re fenced. Speaker 10: There is an existing fence on site and this condition reflects. The state of that existing fence, it's like a pool fence, it's a galvanised steel pool fence of 1.2 metres in height, so that gives them the capacity to retain the fence, and noting that that fence won't impede flood flow. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah, so that was Councillor Jurisdict's changes, and if all councillors were in agreement with that, the staff would have no problem with that.

00:05:00 Speaker 10: That's correct. There was another change to condition five, to remove the reference to the effort disposal areas, because the site is silly, so it was redundant. Councillor Wilkie: Okay, all right, any other questions, councillors? Well, I'll move the motion with the changes as proposed by Councillor Jurisdict, and seconded by Councillor Stewart. Councillor Lorentson: I have a question through the chair that I've directed to Larry, I'm not sure how to handle it. Oh, you haven't, no. Councillor Wilkie: Look, I'll waive my right to speak if you want to do the, ask your questions now. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Just, you know, there was mention that there was access to Griffith Avenue, and I was just wondering, does Councillor Jurisdict live on that street in Tewantin, and is there a potential conflict?

00:06:00 I just... Councillor Jurisevic: I live on Griffith Avenue. Councillor Lorentson: Griffith Avenue, thank you, that's the question I was asking. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you very much. Any other discussion? I'll put it to the vote. Those in favour? That's unanimous. It's carried. Thank you, Georgina. Speaker 3: Thank you, Georgina. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Georgina. Speaker 3: Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Next item is a minor change to development approvals for 47 multiple dwellings, entertainment and dining type 1 food and beverage and retail business, type 1 local and type 2 shop and salon at Natanya 71 Hastings Street, Noosa Heads, described as lot zero on BUP 101-500, referred due to the significance of the issue, and that's your mate Patrick. Thank you. Speaker 10: So as you say, this relates to the Netanya Resort at 71 Hastings Street. In 2020, there was a previous change application to the six approvals that are related to the site. Those works have since occurred. This now seeks a further change to three tenancies that are in the southeast corner of the site, and also some retrospective works also requiring approval.

5.2 51901.3614.03, 51901.3786.04, 51992.479.03, 51994.1048.03, 51994.1249.03, MCU13/0081.03 – MINOR CHANGE TO DEVELOPMENT APPROVALS FOR 47 MULTIPLE DWELLINGS, ENTERTAINMENT & DINING - TYPE 1 FOOD & BEVERAGE AND RETAIL BUSINESS - TYPE 1 LOCAL AND TYPE 2 SHOP & SALON AT ‘NETANYA’ - 71 HASTINGS STREET NOOSA HEADS DESCRIBED AS LOT 0 ON BUP101500 (Referred from Planning & Environment Committee Meeting dated 6 February 2024 Item 5.2 - due to significance of the issue.) ¶

▶ 00:06:29· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:07:00 The previous application proposed a number of new car parks. One of those car parks cannot be provided as there's actually an existing pole in the location of where it was shown that that car park would be. So it's proposed that an infrastructure agreement be entered into to make contributions for that one car space. That has been accepted by us. Of a more substantive nature is the proposed new parking space. There's a setback to Park Road. There's some issues with the setback that's proposed, and so I think it's 120 mils at its smallest point.

00:08:00 The scheme seeks for landscaping to be provided in this location. It's a key corner, and by having the eaves overhang the setback area, it's going to limit the opportunity for meaningful landscaping. So we're seeking for that setback to be increased to two metres to that Park Road frontage, and seeking to approve that. We've approved the application with the requirement that the plans be amended to reflect that increased setback. From the Planning and Environment Committee meeting, there were some matters raised around encroachment. I'd just like to advise that those matters have been resolved. There was a fence that had been constructed off the site, and we've had an inspection this morning to confirm that that fence has now been removed. Councillor Wilkie: Questions, Councillors? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: 30-0. I don't know. Any questions? Yes. I will move a slightly different recommendation, as discussed at the Planning and Environment.

00:09:00 And that's just the staff recommendation with the amendment to read the new feature awnings are to be set back a minimum of two metres from the Park Road frontage. All timber batten screens and support posts are to be set back a minimum of two metres from all street frontages. The bulk of the new feature awnings and associated pillars, batten screens are to be reduced by, first dot point, lessening the thickness of the feature awnings and pillar batten screens, including the use of lightweight building materials. And second dot point, the feature awnings and pillars batten screens must be made of light-coloured materials that complement the beachside character. Councillor Wilkie: May we have a seconder for that, please? I'll second it. Seconder, Councillor Wegener. Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So the, overall there's no, the only significant issue is in regard to that Park Road, Hastings Street corner and the look and feel of it.

00:10:00 Part of that was the extent of that. The other one that I think Councillor Wegener raised and what I also saw was the, there's a very sort of big dark brown bulky pillars that really was, in my view, not keeping what the aspired look and feel of Hastings Street in the new plan is. Staff have helped me with that. It's providing that as a potential augmented condition to just enhance the opportunity to get a good quality design that is a little bit more subtropical beachside architectural in its rendering of the facade of the shops. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. Any other questions or councillors care to comment? Councillor Wegener. Councillor Wegener: I just did a follow-on from that. I spent quite a bit of time wandering around there over the weekend and I actually noticed that the same sort of awning is actually in front of Provador, the restaurant there. And it actually looks quite nice. And I was, from the drawings here, I thought, oh my gosh, this looks very bulky.

00:11:00 But then when you go down there and see how the awning in front of Provador is, and it is actually, it's light screening type of, like would you say, I don't know what you call it. It's not a big blocky wall, a big chunk. It's... Battens. Battens, yeah. It's a battens. And so as long as they stick with that, which I think Councillor Stockwell's addition here just basically says, yeah, do that, which you're already doing. But it doesn't look like that in the plans. But on the drawings here, it looks quite bulky. And so going down there, but looking at actually how it fit, how it's going to sit, is quite nice. Yeah, I, I support it. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Robertson. My concern with the light coloured material is that the whole building is dark. So my question to Richard is, is there any opportunity for us to run this past the applicant

00:12:00 to just check that we're not interfering with the application. We're not architects here, so I would just love to just understand if he's okay with that, because a light-coloured material, and you've got an entire building that's dark, you know, maybe a little bit at odds. Speaker 3: Yeah, if, councillors, if you have a look at figure three, the renderings, I think it's quite useful. A lot of the building, proposed building, will be relatively white. I know it's dark in terms of what's sitting under there, but below the awnings, I guess, is going to be quite light and white there. So I think there is an opportunity, and I guess when they make the revisions, as shown, to set it back two metres, we will have a closer look at the treatment and materials as well. And we'll obviously, key focus is to maintain the scheme characteristics and make sure it is lightweight.

00:13:00 And doesn't have a big impostor bearing in terms of urban design there. So they are shown, as you'll see, as battens there. I know it's quite hard on some of the angles there to clearly see that there's quite a bit of light between them, and it depends on the angle you're looking at it from. We'll be making sure that that is relatively light colour, so it's in keeping, I guess, with the Noosa character. So I think the change that's suggested is going to be okay. And won't stick out too much from what's proposed to be built. Thank you. Councillor Stewart. Mayor Stewart: My question is along similar lines, just if I understand that, you know, what Councillor Stockwell is trying to achieve here, but if that's going to cost, you know, additional expenditure to the applicant, and if they are actually, you know, shouldn't be going as light on the floor pan, or is it necessary, or have they sort of, are they open to this kind of change? Speaker 3: Yes, thank you, Mia.

00:14:00 So, obviously, they are required to make this amendment, so when they are putting that forward, we can go through with them the design details to achieve the requirements of the planning scheme. Really, the key element of this proposal there, particularly with the light coloured materials, is not going to have a significant cost impost, as it's just really a change of the materials and treatment. Councillor Wegener: Councillor Wegener. If I remember, if I look, you know, standing in front of the door, I think it was light wood that they were using there. It didn't, it struck me as, I could see the grain, which means it's light, it's not painted dark. I'm quite sure that that's the case, even though it doesn't look like that in these photos. Yes, yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Is that a comment or a question? Councillor Wegener: That was a comment. Councillor Wilkie: It sounds like a comment. Okay. Welcome, Councillor Jo. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, my apologies to the media for my time. I guess I'll just come from a few minutes. Yeah. Our condolences. Councillor Wilkie: Any other councillors wish to speak to the motion?

00:15:00 Councillor Stockwell, do you wish to close? Motion to the vote. Those in favour? That's unanimous. It's carried. Thank you. Next item is, are you with us still, Patrick, for the next one? Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Other change to an existing approval for material change of use, expansion of special purpose waste disposal and recycling facility, and ongoing clearing purposes at 561 Eumundi Noosa Noosa Road, Doonan. Yes. Speaker 3: If I might just, I'm able to introduce councillors to Mr Tim Balcombe from RPS. He's our external assessor for this application. As you're all aware, councillors are a proponent in this particular development application, and as a result, to ensure we maintain impartial and effective our role as the developer in this case, of the landfill and the assessment manager, we've engaged an external consultant to undertake the assessment on our behalf.

6 REPORTS DIRECT TO GENERAL COMMITTEE ¶

▶ 00:15:16

Nothing was transcribed under this heading — a stretch of the recording with no speech the model could make out.

6.1 132005.638.03 - Other Change to an existing approval for Material Change of Use – Expansion of Special Purpose (Waste Disposal and Recycling Facility) & Ongoing Clearing Purposes at 561 Eumundi Noosa Road, Doonan ¶

▶ 00:15:20· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:16:00 So Tim is going to provide you a quick summary of his assessment of this particular proposal. And we've got Will and Patrick here to assist with any particular other questions we might get along the way. Yeah, the floor is yours Tim. Welcome Tim. Speaker 2: Thanks guys, thanks Richard. So what we've got before us is an application to change an existing development approval, which is the Doonan landfill facility. The change is another change, so it's not a minor change, therefore it's bringing new land into the existing approval. In this instance, the proposed change fully relates just to the resource recovery area of the existing landfill. The proposal by Council is to expand the resource recovery area. As a result of expanding the resource recovery area, there is a consequence of the removal of some vegetation to facilitate

00:17:00 this, the expansion, and that is one hectare of existing remnant vegetation. The purpose for the expansion, I suppose, is more for the safety and the efficiency of the operation of the landfill. It's particularly the resource recovery component of the landfill, which is becoming a more important aspect of the landfill itself because Council has got a major focus on removing recyclables from the landfill itself. Therefore, in doing so, there's more reliance on the existing landfill, the resource recovery area. What's happened over time is there's more demand for the resource recovery itself. It's the, we're sort of losing space, I suppose. The public's coming in there. You've got heavy machinery. You've got, yeah, a lot of things going on there. And I suppose with the location of the existing HES basin that's existing is

00:18:00 right in the centre of the resource recovery area. And by relocating the basin itself allows for a much greater resource recovery. So, it's a much greater resource recovery area. And more efficient use of that land. It also provides really important protection and it doesn't involve so much monitoring of the public that will be entering the site with through signage and just operational matters itself. So, it's really important that those there, that's the primary purpose of the expansion. But unfortunately, as a result of that expansion, it will result in the consequential removal of the remnant vegetation on the site. So, it's also known as an environmentally important area as well. So, the application is required to be referred to the state for state referral matters for vegetation clearing and also state

00:19:00 controlled road matters. It's also interesting to note that the area is koala habitat, map koala habitat area. And so, what that means, normally, that it would be subject to Schedule 7 of the Planning Regulations. So, because Council is the operator itself, they have an exemption because of important infrastructure requirements. So, therefore, Council is exempt from the Schedule 11 provisions. It's also important to note that we've got these clearances and for certain infrastructure. So, it's also important to note that we've got these clearances and for certain infrastructure, the State have also recommended Council go for a, it's a relevant purpose designation, which allows, is one means for the State to have confidence or they've reviewed the proposal

00:20:00 and they've delivered that relevant purpose designation as well. Notwithstanding that, the application is still required to be referred to the State for the review of the clearing of that remnant vegetation as it would normally be required. But typically, if Council was not the application and the local government undertaking, you know, important infrastructure requirements, there would be certain other hurdles that we'd have to go through. It's also important to note that under the Planning Regulations, there's no operational works component to the, to any approvals associated with Council infrastructure projects, I suppose. So, it's important to note that under the Planning Regulations, there's no operational So the assessment of the application involved a few key matters, I suppose. One of our primary interests was an intensification of the use. Was it going to involve more traffic, staff, all those types of matters that need to be considered?

00:21:00 And, look, the applicant really demonstrated quite well that, yeah, it was just more, it's not an expansion of the TIP. We're getting the same amount of material coming in, and they've been able to demonstrate that over about 15 years of, sort of, volumes that have entered the TIP. But what they have been able to demonstrate is there's way greater reliance on this resource recovery area, although the volume of the material is pretty much the same, steady, over the time. So what that means is less waste is going into the landfill, and more waste is being recovered in this area, which is a great thing, I believe. So in that sense, we were quite comfortable that there was no intensification, but it still allows for steady growth of the waste, of the Council's asset, over time. And what all that also does is sort of takes our concerns off the traffic and parking issues, because they were also demonstrated to be much the same, and it is a steady growth, as you would typically expect for a facility such as this.

00:22:00 So the main concerns with the application. We can really rely on just the removal of vegetation, and also some stormwater matters, but our primary focus was probably on the ecology, what was the impacts of removing this vegetation. As a consequence of the removal of the vegetation, the applicant has proposed an environmental offset, which is located to the south of the site. It's located in the southeast corner, it's 1.8 hectares, and this is surplus land, it's already been shaped for some, for another wetland, or a HES basin down at the other end of the site, because it captures both catchments on either side of the landfill itself, and so it's proposed that this recently reshaped surplus land, which is the only surplus land that we have in this area, which is the only surplus land that we have in this area, which is the only surplus land that we have in this area, which is the only surplus land that we

00:23:00 have in this area, which is the only surplus land that's on the site that's not designated as remnant vegetation as well, is going to be the offset receiver in this instance. We've had an external ecologist review the applicant's application and through a rigorous assessment and asking the questions, they ultimately found that the environmental offset through certain other sort of recommendations. And then ultimately, they decided that the recovery of the land would be simple and relaxing.

00:24:00 The proposal also has some stormwater impacts. We've got an existing HES basin that's 20 years old, that is now not up to best practice anymore, so they want to design a new top of the line sort of compliant, a basin that basically complies with industry best practice at this point in time, that will also assist with flooding, water quality, and all these types of things. In terms of flooding, it's not a designated flood area, but there is localised flooding that needs to be considered, so it's also been conditioned that the fill site itself be raised up to a flood-tolerable level, so that the use can operate in flood-free circumstances. Yeah, so looking at the application as a whole, we found that based on the zoning, that the use is basically consistent with the intentions.

00:25:00 It also provides the safety that we're after for the operation of the resource recovery area. It also facilitates the expansion of the new HES basin. And also it fulfills the environmental obligations through offsetting and also the state of reviewed the veg clearing and SARA has also recommended approval with conditions in relation to the proposed expansion. So therefore we've recommended approval for the expansion as proposed by the applicant. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you Tim. Questions? Councillor Stockwell.

00:26:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yes, just a point of clarification. I think in your introduction you mentioned RPS except on our agenda we've got Jones, Leeds and Pike. Can you explain the relationship? JFP. Speaker 3: JFP, apologies. Yes. It should be Jones. That's correct. JFP and consultants. Apologies for that, yes. Councillor Jurisevic: Joe. Yes, the mention of six-to-one offset. That offset has been undertaken on the southern end. Correct. On the eastern end. Does that still remain within koala coral or koala designated areas? Speaker 2: Yes, it certainly is a designated area. Prior to the clearing it is mapped as koala habitat which is the paperbark species. So yeah, the offset area and that was one of the questions asked by the ecologist was that we had to replace light for light.

00:27:00 And that includes, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: So that requirement for six-to-one offset is a requirement of the state? Speaker 2: Correct. Councillor Jurisevic: Is there any requirement of the state to provide assets close to a busy road? Yep. Than the original location where we're increasing the offset, the potential for koala habitation in busy roads? Yep. Is there any need within state koala mapping for koala crossings or koala acknowledgement through busy road, you know, particularly state road assets? Speaker 2: It's probably a better question for Will, but I'm more than happy to assist. Speaker 11: So in this instance, the state are exempt from assessment of the koala habitat area because of the schedule five and where this sits as far as works for council, by council on a waste area. So they've exempted themselves from that assessment. Council has, however, required them to undertake their self-assessable requirement under the koala habitat that's in both a KPA and KHA area.

00:28:00 So there is a self-assessable criteria, and as part of that criteria, they have to offset each stem that's removed, so 500 stems to be removed, they have to provide 3,000 stems in its place. Councillor Jurisevic: Are they required to approve the offset site? Speaker 11: No, but because they are exempted, council is now the assessment manager for this portion of the assessment. Councillor Jurisevic: One would think that the assessment, by council, still has to be approved. They have to be able to take it under state regulation and state requirements. Speaker 11: Yes, but because it is part of schedule five, it is exempt. However, there is a policy that captures infrastructure under schedule five. So there's a new policy, which is a self-assessable criteria that regardless of whether you're exempt, you still have to comply with this self-assessable policy. Speaker 10: And there has been state referral. State referral for? Speaker 11: Vegetation. So the state have got an interest in the vegetation that's to be removed, and they

00:29:00 have provided a separate offset for the vegetation communities on the site. So that's a separate offset to the one that is proposed on the site. Speaker 10: And that's 0.21 of a hectare? Is that correct? Speaker 11: 1.8 hectare. For the state offset? Correct. Of two separate types of vegetation. Yes. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Question to Richard. In terms of condition under 30, a suitably qualified person must be engaged to manage fauna and fauna prime during clearing to ensure that the works are carried out in accordance with the vegetation removal and fauna management plan.

00:30:00 Speaker 3: Absolutely. So, yeah, there is a requirement. We add what we call an advisory note to provide clarification on the definitions of a qualified person. For the purposes of a rehabilitation plan, so a qualified person is considered to be a landscape architect or ecologist with a minimum of three years experience in the field. For fauna protection, they're required to have certification and calculate compensatory habitat. And they must also have three years of experience and they must have current certification under the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service as well. So we'll be requiring that as part of those minimum requirements. Obviously, we'll be working closely with the applicant to ensure that we achieve best practice with fauna management.

00:31:00 And that includes all the provisions for pre-trap clearing. So that means doing a full scan well before any clearing occurs on site to make sure that we do... the best possible job we can to ensure that all fauna are safely relocated from the particular area of clearing. There's also the opportunity to use new technology such as infrared drones, which can actually detect a lot of the fauna that can be hovered over the site prior to any clearing. It's been proven very successful in a lot of places where these works have had to occur in the past. And we'll be looking to work with the applicant to ensure those best practices are carried out. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Any questions councillors? I have a question to start with. What are the consequences in terms of state regulations if we do not do this work? Speaker 10: There is an issue on the side in terms of safety, I believe there has been communications

00:32:00 from the state to our waste department around needing to comply with those safety requirements. Speaker 3: There is also just in addition to Patrick's comments, there is obviously some concerns regarding the size of the current HES basin that is on the site that in large events is at its limits and so there is risks over time particularly with climate change scenarios involved that there may be failure over time so we need to ensure that we are well positioned to ensure that we can manage those environmental impacts and that is where we need a larger HES basin in place. Councillor Wilkie: So it doesn't overflow in a big rain event for example and pollute the surrounding environment? Speaker 3: Absolutely councillor, yes. So that is the big focus of these works is actually to assist with environmental protection whilst there is an immediate impact required for the clearing long term this will position council and our community in a far better position to address those environmental issues moving forward. Thank you.

00:33:00 Mayor Stewart: Councillor Stewart. Just following on from Councillor Wilkinson, so this is a must do, do we have to do it? Speaker 3: Yes, look absolutely, we are in a situation where our waste team are well aware that there are limitations on the current operation, they are required to ensure that it does comply with standards in terms of the sizing and that does require an enlargement of this HES basin. The waste team have explored the entire site for the best location for these particular activities and this has proven to be the best possible location for that to occur. Thank you. As mentioned earlier there is also safety concerns around the clearances required for the public when they are entering these facilities, so we need to ensure we have got adequate space for the public to access through the site moving forward. So we are essentially in a situation where council needs to undertake these works to ensure that they have got a compliant operation moving forward. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Joyce.

00:34:00 Councillor Jurisevic: I would like to move to staff recommendation, a couple of extra conditions. Councillor Wilkie: Yes, move. Councillor Joe. And you have got a question, Councillor Finzel? Yes. Well, Joe has moved it, you can still ask some questions. We will have a second here. Councillor Finzel: Thank you for the report, it was comprehensive. Just in terms of our community is so focused on, you know, our environment, the ecology and, you know, all our surveys have shown that it's a number one. In a report I might have missed it, but I didn't see anything about messaging back to community in terms of being proactive. On the front foot and putting positive messaging back to community, this is a must have, it's been highlighted today, through the Chair to the CEO, how are we going to manage that messaging back to the community? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: In the border. Yes. The council is coming from the perspective of the applicant, and at the current consideration we are assessing a development which we also happen to be an applicant, I don't think it's appropriate to actually talk about communication as the applicant when we are assessing the

00:35:00 development. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. I think it's a key question about how we're going to communicate. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, as an applicant. Councillor Jurisevic: Yes. I would argue we're wearing two hats in this case. We are. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: We are. I think we have to be very careful not to wear two hats in the current. Our role is a statutory role in considering a development application. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And I think the question requires us to take that hat off and put our hat on as an applicant, and it's not what's on the agenda. What's on the agenda is the assessment of the development application. We have to be very careful not to mix the two. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. I'm having... I'm seeing... I still see that as quite a relevant question about what sort of communications will there be about this... these works, should they be approved today. Thank you.

00:36:00 Thank you. So, unless there's... Councillor Jurisevic: Mr Chair, can I put it a different way? If this were a development application from a developer on a different parcel of land, would we be asking the same question of that developer as to how they're going to communicate their communications to the public with reference to their development? Councillor Wilkie: The difference is ratepayers' monies are not... would not be involved in that situation. So, we're talking about a council-owned, a publicly-owned facility involving ratepayers' dollars to do this work. And there's a lot of community interest in this. It's a community-owned facility. I think it's a very pertinent question. Well, I respect what... the point you're making. I'd like to allow the question, if that's okay. You're the Chair. Councillor Jurisevic: You're the Chair. Councillor Wilkie: So, Mr. CEO, what sort of communications would be planned around this, if it were approved today? Speaker 9: If it were approved today for you, Chair, I think that we would be... we're obliged to... and with the hat of the council, once we approve it, I think we're then obliged

00:37:00 to provide the community with some information about why we're doing it, how it's come about. I think the report itself has been comprehensive enough to do that. There was a report prior to this, remember, alerting council to and community to this particular application that was coming. And... Yes. And the extent of this works in relation to the overall extent of the site over the years and the conservation overlay that's been placed on that site. I think that, you know, we would happily... But that's with... Once this is... If and when this is approved or agreed, then, you know, we would look to have an appropriate meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. So through the Chair, I acknowledge that Councillor Stockwell has been brought to the table. My apologies if that's been out of order. I just felt in terms of good governance, open and transparency back to our community, that was my question. But however, if that is out of order, there's been a question of apologies.

00:38:00 Councillor Wilkie: No, no. If it's, I've ruled that it's acceptable. But I respect what the points that have been raised. I'm just making sure. No, no. Councillor Stockwell, you wish to second this motion? Councillor Jurisevic: Yes. I haven't raised the motion yet because I've added an additional condition. Councillor Wilkie: Okay. Councillor Jurisdict. I haven't added an additional condition. Councillor Jurisevic: Can we add on the additional conditions? Yes, yes. The additional conditions are... Mayor Stewart: Is this adding to the end or where are you adding? Councillor Jurisevic: The additional conditions are around, I thought we had brackets on, but around one, including conditions one to 13 as an attachment to this, to these meeting minutes.

00:39:00 So that all the conditions, one, two, four, five, are available to the public as part of this report and part of the minutes of this meeting. The conditions start at condition 14. The original conditions, one to 13, are in a previous report to Council. And the second condition is around Koala Coraline. Councillor Wilkie: Let's get this... Councillor Lorentson: So that's the first thing, to just have a full copy of the conditions as item B? Yes. Okay. And then you wanted to also change... Councillor Jurisevic: I wanted to add a condition that... Councillor Lorentson: So you're adding a condition to these conditions? Councillor Jurisevic: To these conditions, yes. Councillor Lorentson: So adding a condition 40-something at the end? Councillor Jurisevic: 46, I believe, would work.

00:40:00 And I apologise, I haven't drafted it. As I said, I was at a function I... In fact, I'll leave that till Thursday night and I'll try and get those conditions drafted for Thursday night and review those conditions. And have it appropriately worded for Thursday night and I'll just add the first condition to this report. Councillor Wilkie: Okay, we have a seconder for that. Yeah, I'm happy. Councillor Stockwell, Councillor Jurusevic. Oh, sorry. Speaker 5: That's okay. Councillor Wilkie: Is there a seconder? Councillor Lorentson: Fine. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: The conditions one to 13, are they on the agenda in any location? Speaker 4: No, that's why you wanted to add them. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: They're not on this agenda. I'll move a procedural motion then that may be deferred till Thursday, because we can't vote on something we haven't seen. Councillor Jurisevic: You have seen them. They are conditioned on the previous approval for this application. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Previous approval? Speaker 3: The existing approval. Ah, the existing approval. The existing approval. This is another change.

00:41:00 Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That makes it okay. We're just adding on to that. Councillor Jurisevic: Sorry. Not adding conditions. All I'm doing is clarifying that all conditions are available in the meetings, are tabled in the meeting of this minute, are tabled in the minutes of this meeting. Sorry. Consolidated. Yeah. Yeah. Basically an element to consolidate all the conditions. Happy to second that. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Jurusevic. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, look, I think it's been alluded around the table, this, and in the previous approval, this is necessary. I understand the need, there's a very great need for this to undertake public, to undertake safety, not only for the public, but for those people that are working at the landfill. This will help facilitate greater collection and better facilitation of resource recovery at the centre, and as a result of the loss of vegetation, this will help facilitate to cover the necessary offsets to facilitate safety. I've got six to one offsets for koala planting to, which will be a benefit to the koala population as well.

00:42:00 Councillor Wilkie: I think it's Councillor Jurusevic. Any other councillors wish to speak? Councillor Stockwell and Councillor Finzel. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I might preempt a little bit what Councillor Jurusevic was going. It is Mattis koala habitat, but Melaleuca's not a really strong koala food species. It is one they will eat. This site was more wetland lower level, and I had a quick look while it was going, and the WildNet record showed that there's no sightings of koalas within the landfill site, and the sightings within about a kilometre or two kilometres around, they're all in the eucalypt on the native forest. So while it's mapped as because koalas can eat metal liquor, it's not what you'd classically say is good koala habitat. So to me, the key thing is re-establishing a similar ecosystem where a variety of species can be used as their habitat.

00:43:00 Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Thank you, through the Chair. I'd just like to take the opportunity to say I support Councillor Jones' condition on there. I think it is really important that we can use this as a condition to build trust within our community, support good governance and building excellence and being outward facing. So I really support this and see it as a great opportunity to give as much information back to community as we can in a long sustained manner. So thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Finzel. Councillor Jurisevic: I just wanted to ask a question. In the report, I'm sure I read that there are, following from what Councillor Stockwell asked, koala sightings and koala movements in and around the landfill site. Speaker 2: That's what's understood, yep. Councillor Jurisevic: Does that include in all directions? Do we actually have koala passage documentation with regards to which way they're travelling? In the specialist reporting?

00:44:00 Speaker 11: Yeah, I don't believe we had any indicative mapping to show existing sightings and the way they were traversing. I think as the site sits, there's a lot of information. It sits regionally. You've got the large patch bush to the north and there is a connecting tissue of vegetation that runs along the southern boundary. So I guess there is connectivity through and around the site as it sits. Councillor Jurisevic: So given that it's low level Melaleuca and sometimes what we'll be facilitating will be of a higher order, a higher nature of koala habitat or koala trees within the offset? Speaker 11: I think the offset definitely increases the width of the corridor along the southern boundary. I think that's a positive outcome for that corridor. But as Mr Stockwell said, they're not the favoured food tree. They will eat them if they're desperate, but it isn't the favoured food source for this.

00:45:00 Councillor Jurisevic: So I'll allude to what my additional condition would regard to. Is there scope here to facilitate some koala crossings or at least indications that koalas are in the area in the conditions for the applicant to turn around and put in maybe some line marking and or some solar powered signs similar to what Morton Council do with regard to where koala habitat is being increased? Speaker 11: Signage is a fantastic thing. I think being able to educate road users to the potential for koalas in the area. Watch your speed and slow down. The opportunity to be able to provide that signage on a state road I'm unfamiliar with, but potentially there are other roads that surround the site that we could implement those signs. Councillor Jurisevic: Is that something that could be investigated before Thursday's meeting with regard to how the state would feel if we condition something along those lines for Council to undertake on a state road?

00:46:00 Speaker 3: If I can answer that one, Councillor. We can certainly make some inquiries regarding that. Obviously being a state controlled road, it would be difficult for us to give certainty around that unless we've gone through a full process and I don't think in a few days we'll probably get in writing a letter from the state saying that they will confirm to agree to allow us to install signage or install it themselves. We'll make inquiries in that regard. I think there's a good opportunity across the region to look at this more broadly. Rather than a specific site and as Councillor Stockwell mentioned earlier, possibly there's other more higher risk sites that have vegetation that is probably the primary food source for koalas that we might look at as a primary location rather than this specific site. Knowing that the state controlled road is to the south and obviously we have our road on the eastern boundary, we could look at potentially some signage there on our own road.

00:47:00 I think there would be difficulty getting signage agreed to be installed before the ordinary meeting on Thursday. That's my only concern, but happy to make inquiries. Councillor Jurisevic: Happy to look at the wording of the condition to be subject to. Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. Councillor Jurisevic: At least to investigate or look at the opportunities and try to encourage the awareness of motorists in the area. Yes. If we're going to increase the level of koala habitat in the area, particularly adjacent to busy incoming roads into the end of the trial. Speaker 3: And look, we have spoken briefly with our external ecologist who did the assessment and they did look at connectivity for koalas through there. They were comfortable that given the scale of what was proposed to be undertaken, the significant offset provided that reasonable steps have been taken

00:48:00 to address the area of clearing with the offset. They commended the idea of potential crossings and always would encourage there to be more of it. However, in this particular case, they didn't recommend that via condition due to they thought it was probably excessive requiring them to go above and beyond with putting more signage and potentially crossings there. But I think there's an opportunity to look at signage as a first point of view because it's relatively low cost and can create greater awareness for all users and certainly could be of benefit. So we're happy to explore that further in preparation for the ordinary meeting on Thursday. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. I don't see some line marking for solar power signs being particularly under us undertaking. But I've said let's look at the wording that we can do. Yes. Speaker 3: Look, the line marking, I mean, if you're looking seriously at crossings, potentially you look at something a bit more substantial, either an underpass or an overpass.

00:49:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Well, I'm more about driver awareness. Speaker 3: Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: And that's with the signage. Along the lines of what we've been undertaking in Council now with VMS boards. Yeah. I think we can do it better than VMS boards and I think this is an opportunity to start the conversation. Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. Councillor Wilkie: All right. Councillor, anyone else wish to speak before Councillor Joe closes? Councillor Joe? Councillor Jurisevic: No. Councillor Wilkie: Put it to the vote. All those in favour? That's unanimous. Thank you, Tim. Thank you, Will. Speaker 9: Thanks. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 9: Thanks. Councillor Wilkie: Next up. Councillor Jurisevic: Sorry, is the chair going to take a reply or what? Councillor Wilkie: I'm going to remove the motion, the change motion as circulated by yourself. Thank you. Mr Chair. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Yes. Just at the end of the meeting, I just want to . Can we just suspend the standing orders just to say a few words about Brian Lawson? I know you've .

6.2 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT – JANUARY 2024 ¶

▶ 00:49:43· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:50:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Have I asked whether we can undertake something on Thursday night? Councillor Finzel: Oh, Thursday night. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: That's okay. Councillor Wilkie: The next item is the financial performance report for January written by financial services manager acting Pauline Coles. Councillor Jurisevic: Pauline Coles and I have Trent Graf as well. Councillor Wilkie: Welcome, Pauline and Trent. Speaker 6: Good afternoon. Councillor Lorentson: Good afternoon. Councillor Wilkie: Could you care to give us an overview, please? Speaker 6: Sure, I can. Of the finances for January. So firstly, I'd like to bring to your attention that the January 2024 year-to-date results now reflect the budget review too that was adopted by council at the January ordinary meeting. Year-to-date January operating revenues continue to outperform our forecast and operating We have a total of $420,000 above budget which is driven by interest income of $325,000. Sales of goods and services of $466,000 which is predominantly from holiday parks, waste

00:51:00 and some community facilities. This is offset by lower than forecast revenue from fees and charges relating to development assessment, building and plumbing and local laws. Operating expenditure is $861,000 underspent with the majority of this relating to employee costs, about $1,000,000 and this is a result of some vacancies and recruitment timing. As well it is compounded at this time of year by the timing of leave being taken by staff and the accrual provisions and that's equivalent to about $300,000 so it's sort of overstate just because everyone takes a lot of leave around January but we don't accrue it in the system that way. Materials and services are slightly overspent, about $122,000 and tourism and economic development expenditure is on track as forecast. Overall Council's operating position at the end of January is $1.3 million above budget,

00:52:00 obviously noting that some of this relates to some timing issues. Year to date excluding our disaster projects, Council has spent 38% of its full year capital program. Which equates to about $17.6 million with a further $10 million in commitments. Of the disaster program, $15 million has been spent to date. Due to the timing obviously it's a little bit slower over the December January quarter but that should ramp up into the remainder of this year. Council's cash holding at the end of January was $110 million with $35 million of these funds invested in term deposits. With the second rates cycle happening in January, cash is again at its peak and it will decline over time as operational expenditure occurs and the capital program is delivered. Overall Council's financial performance continues to be strong. Councillor Wilkie: Questions? Joe? Councillor Jurisevic: I know it's a new term or is it just me? Sports facility change? Is that referring to our aquatic centre, our indoor leisure centre? Speaker 6: So just to clarify, so previously we used to refer to it as community facilities but with

00:53:00 the realignment flowing through the financial system now, the sports and active lifestyle area has obviously the NAC and the community facilities. The NAC and the leisure centre, whereas previously it used to have also the J and there, but the J is now seen. Councillor Jurisevic: So that's the only area, the sports and the NAC and the leisure centre are the only areas that relate to sports authority fees? Correct. No others? No. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Councillor Stewart? Through you Chair, thank you. Thank you Pauline, again a great report. I'm just going to come back to, it seems to be 11.7 months, page 84. Yes. It's been cash expense come up. Okay. It's always quite high. I know I asked this question. No, that's fine. But it seems to have stayed steady at that for a little bit now. Correct. And I note that all the comments are saying it's coming, it'll obviously decrease coming to June 30. Correct. To expenditure. Speaker 6: So obviously it was up high generally because we'd had advance payment of all the career aid disaster funding, about 27 million we'd received.

00:54:00 That's starting to occur, the expenditure on that. However with the rates occurring in January, that's kind of pushed it up so it's held at quite a level. So as we go through to June, we'll spend those funds on operations and that will start to come down. And as the capital program for disaster continues, it will also come down as well as a result of that. Councillor Jurisevic: But having said that, we have more disaster funding to come in for the projects. We will. Yes. So that may not decrease, depending on how the spend and the income and the out going. Correct. Speaker 6: So in the preliminary one, we had an advance payment and depending on the cash flow cycle, we may ask for an advance payment again from QRRA. But if we don't, then it'll be we spend and then we get reimbursed. So it'll be a matter of timing. So unless we get another advance payment, which we might require, once we finalise the delivery of those projects and the cash impact on council, it may have another spike but it may actually just be a timing, month on month on. Councillor Jurisevic: So from here on in, we won't be getting funding in advance, we'll be actually getting payment

00:55:00 on invoices. Speaker 6: Correct. So at the moment we're using those advance funds to deliver the program. So we're submitting claims every month. Councillor Jurisevic: That's why I'm just clarifying that we're not going to get lump sums in to pay ahead of things we're going to be paying on invoices. Speaker 6: At this stage, no. But we are assessing at the moment the delivery schedule for those programs to make sure that there's no crunch when there's a big delivery at Black Mountain that we may need an advance payment. But at this stage, we haven't requested that. Councillor Jurisevic: Again, who does the invoice go to? Does it go to QRA? Does it go to council? It comes to us. Yeah. So we need the money for QRA in advance so I'll have to pay for that. So, yeah. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: So do we have too much cash on hand? Is where I think that this is sort of bringing to? Speaker 6: No. No. So when I referred, I think in the last quarterly update, I obviously showed the breakdown of those things. We hold a minimum of three months cash cover to fund operations should we not be able to collect rates or if something happens. We also hold quite a substantial amount of funding in there for some advanced waste levies, for our environment levy, and some disaster provisions as well.

00:56:00 So we hold that fund in there as well. The calculation that you see here is on our total funding. It doesn't exclude those amounts that we're holding for restricted purposes. So it does show it's slightly higher than what we would normally see, but that's essentially what's happening. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. So to clarify that, is it possible in reporting from here on in and possibly when you can answer today, how much of that cash is being held specifically for QRA projects or each of those elements to show what is being held specifically for designated? Speaker 6: We can show that, yes. And we do show that in the quarterly report of the cash dissection. We don't break it. We don't break it down to QRA specifically, but we could probably do that. Councillor Jurisevic: My paper takes just the QRA element out of it, so we can see how much is council cash and how much is disaster management cash or something, or other advanced payment cash. Sure. As in tooth funding. Was it tooth funding that we've got coming in advance again this year? Yes.

00:57:00 Yes. Speaker 6: Yes. We can look at that for you. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Muller. Hi, Pauline. Thank you for asking a question. I think I've asked quite a few times over this term in terms of consultancy, whether we can give some consideration to set up a consultant fee register, just so that it can be made public, just to provide transparency on expenditure towards consultants. Is that something we can do? Because I keep asking, can we ... Speaker 6: So obviously, I think I provided you ... We did do it by type, but we do obviously have commercial and confidence arrangements with consultancies and those sorts of things, so we don't necessarily publish a list of those consultants. Obviously, the larger ones, if there's any large ones, would be on the tender list that's published by the procurement team. I'm not sure. I'd have to get some advice in terms of what we could publish and make public on that way. Councillor Jurisevic: I would think, though, that the ... Like our list of preferred suppliers ...

00:58:00 Yes. There would be a list of preferred suppliers and consultants that comes through from Local Buy? Speaker 6: There would be. Some of it's not necessarily published, but it would be available through Local Buy Network. Councillor Jurisevic: Whatever's publicly available, we'd be able to publicly ... Speaker 6: Potentially, yes. Speaker 9: Through the Chair. For some consultancies, yes, you can have a list, because they're regularly used. Then there's often tasks that we need to undertake and give to these specific specialists, and they're a separate piece. We don't have a standard list that we can just go through. Councillor Jurisevic: But so we'd still have to go through a process and be approved at a Local Buy or like? Speaker 6: Not necessarily at the Local Buy. Not necessarily. Depending on the amount, because obviously if it's under the $15,000 threshold, it's just a matter of quotes rather than ... Depending on how much you're spending. Yeah. It depends on the ... Councillor Lorentson: It's more for transparency and also understanding whether the services can or can't be done in

00:59:00 house and why not, and just some learnings that we can pull out of that. Yeah. Speaker 12: Through the Chair, what you might find more valuable from a transparency or analysis perspective is the function that that consultant is providing rather than the number of consultants. Yeah, absolutely. So particularly we're reminded where different parts of the organisation may engage a larger firm. Like for example, some of our big four finance firms could be a range of different types of services undertaken. So I think that the key takeaway would be around the function of the consultants. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. That would be one way of displaying what ... Which is how we ... The services that we reach out for that aren't available in house and that without reaching specific suppliers. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And the gap in expertise also. When we're resourcing staff, should we be clear in what we're looking for and understanding where the gaps are will help. All right. Councillor Wilkie: I have a question. The development assessment, building and plumbing fees, and community facilities ...

01:00:00 Yep. ... revenues all below budget. Correct. Seemingly for months on end, they were always over and above. Speaker 6: Historically they were. Yeah. It's always been like that. Obviously. And then obviously we ramped up with development assessments. Some of it may be timing. Some of it's impacted by staffing and resourcing to do compliance, some compliance work. I mean obviously the DA, they're kind of optimistic that there will be DA applications that will come in through to the end of the year that will lift them back up again. And building and plumbing generally does quite well. Building has been down. So it really is dependent on the market. Councillor Wilkie: Is interest rates buying? Is that a factor? Speaker 6: Potentially. And obviously people aren't sort of buying property as much and doing renovations as much. So potentially yes. Councillor Wilkie: And it's not just down because it's January? Speaker 6: No. No. It's been down consistently for the last quite a few months. Councillor Jurisevic: Yes. We've had some new IT systems, also new IT software as well.

01:01:00 Has that had any impact on any areas of campus? Speaker 6: I wouldn't say that they would have in those different areas. Speaker 12: Through the Chair, the software upgrade had a timely impact in terms of delays for recognition through the financial statements for a month or two. Yes. Not in terms of ongoing financial assistance. That's only during that transition period. Yes. But not . We're back up. Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: Yes. Councillor Wilkie: Okay. And expenditure of community facilities is down. Sorry. Revenue of community facilities. Speaker 6: That relates predominantly to Noosa seniors. So in terms of the charging to their participants essentially in services that they've been doing. So they had quite a optimistic budget this year. But they have had a changeover in managers as well. So that's compounded a little bit as well. Councillor Jurisevic: Also a bit of an increase in spending. Speaker 6: They're actually spending. Expenditure is also down as well. So it's not. Councillor Wilkie: So will you be adjusting the budget accordingly? Speaker 6: How would you know? We would be in 2025 definitely adjusting the budget.

01:02:00 Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Correct. Speaker 6: Okay. Councillor Wilkie: Is it going to affect the bottom line? Speaker 6: Noosa seniors actually runs at a neutral position. So they spend the revenue that comes in and that goes out. So that's that. Councillor Wilkie: So it's all . Councillor Jurisevic: Correct. Speaker 6: Yes. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. But also the budget estimates for development assessment and building and plumbing. Will they need to be adjusted? Speaker 6: In conversations through budget review, they were optimistic that they would be able to recover that funds between now and the end of the year. But we'll only see that over time as if they are able to achieve that. Because DA fees are dependent on the development assessments that are coming through. So depending on what's there, they may recoup that between now and the end of the year. Okay. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Thank you for the report. As always, I'm interested in the top three percentages in the key materials and services. I notice insurance is up now 93%. I'm just wondering how we're tracking that outgoing expenditure and in what way is that related to, you know, the change around legislation with our psychosocial hazards in the workplace

01:03:00 and the risk analysis around, you know, reducing workers' compensation claims and things like that. Speaker 6: In terms of insurance. Obviously. I don't see insurance is up generally. I think the 93 is probably not necessarily 93% of the whole year. So it's not a double budget. There obviously has been an increase in costs and increase in claims, which affects our premiums. I know there is work ongoing at the moment around the work cover policy and looking at different options as to how we might reduce the premiums relating to that. But that's ongoing and we won't see that outcome until sort of into next year. Councillor Finzel: Interesting. Okay. Councillor Wegener: And then to Annette's planning applications, you know, we get the little spreadsheet. They've been very small, much smaller than in the past. Is that an indication of a slowdown? Speaker 6: Potentially, yes. Yes. That would indicate that there isn't the volume that would normally be coming in. Obviously, it's all dependent on developers' appetite and demand for properties.

01:04:00 So we have seen that flow, but we don't know what will happen. With CPI coming down, interest rates might fluctuate between now and the end of the year. It's not likely maybe to increase between now and June, but it's hard to say. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Do you want to care to move the motion? I'll move the motion. Move. Councillor Wegener, seconded by Councillor Jo. Speak to them. Councillor Wegener: I'd just like to congratulate the team. Thank you, Pauline. Thank you, Trent. Okay. I love the clarity. Anybody else? Mayor Stewart: Councillor Stewart. Oh, I'm going to start crying. Please stop. So thank you very much. You're always so comprehensive and great information. And I think they're really easy to read. I was actually going to put something. You put it in layman's terms and simple terms. And I think if you don't have a background in accounting or finance, I think the way

01:05:00 it's structured is really simple and straightforward to read. And very comprehensive. So I want to thank you publicly for all the hard work, Pauline and Trent, and all the team that you do. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you. And as I said, I really appreciated all the information you've given us and the advice and support you've provided us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Mayor Stewart. I put the motion. Those in favour? Carried unanimously. Thank you, Pauline. Thanks for that. Thanks, Trent. Thank you, Trent. The councillors, with your permission, will have five minutes. Councillor Lorentson: Great idea. Speaker 1: Thank you. We're on. Councillor Wilkie: Okay. Welcome back, everybody. You have declared the meeting a success.

6.3 COUNCILLOR MOTIONS FOR SUBMISSION TO ALGA NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2024 ¶

▶ 01:05:38· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:06:00 We're opening the meeting again. We're now up to item 6.3, council of motions for submission to ALGA National General Assembly. And we have a recommendation before us. And two motions, one from Councillor Finzel, and one from Councillor Lorentson. Speaker 9: Laura. Larry? I'm happy to give a quick introduction to it while you're rolling. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 9: Roll the score. I wish I had the same record as Laurie does. He's one of my champions. Is he really? Yeah. No way. Why? Anyway, we digress. He's one of my heroes. This is just a quick introduction. The Australian Local Government Association, ELGA, has a national general assembly every year in July. We presented it last year. We do it quite regularly. The reason we're bringing

01:07:00 this to the table now is because we don't have meetings in March and the deadline is in March for motions to go through to the general assembly in July, 2nd of April, 4th of July. So we've brought this to the table now. The process that it goes through is that we agree the motions here at the table, or the motions that are approved, then go to the ELGA to get approved to go to the general assembly. So there's no direct path. It still has to be approved by ELGA and then it goes presented at the general assembly. And then if it gets approved there or gets supported there, then it becomes something that the ELGA will push forward. So there's a whole process. So this is the first step in that process is what I wanted to make the point of. The theme this year at ELGA, MGA, the national assembly is building community trust.

01:08:00 So we have two motions that the councillors Finzel and Lorentson are bringing to the table. I'm going to get them to summarise or provide a summary, but I just initially in the report, there's a quick topics of those motions. Councillor Finzel, it's calls on the Australian government in establishing proactive steps to identify the core elements required to create a strategic, collaborative and consistent national approach and potentially policy changes in providing equal rights for elected representatives in relation to psychosocial safety legislation and workplace health and safety. And for Councillor Lorentson, it's calls on the Australian government to build a strategic plan to strengthen environmental initiatives and invest in waste water recycling and adopt a collaborative approach for trust and sustainability. So we've got recommendations to take those two, but before going to that point, I thought

01:09:00 it best if in the initial summary is we get the two councillors to summarise their proposals or their motions, if that's okay with you. Of course. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. CEO, through the chair. And thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you. So I think at the core, sitting at the heart of effective leadership sits trust as a fundamental building block of our nation's democracy at all levels of government. I thank LGAQ for reaching out to all councillors and inviting all councillors to put forward motions at the National General Assembly. This invitation resulted in me doing some research to put this together to help bring a national conversation around the opportunity to create consistent national approach to closing the gap and providing protection for elected representatives at local council and other levels of government to match that of employed staff and looking

01:10:00 at ways that we could have that protection to access fair work training, workplace health and safety in an effort to ensure that we are able to be fully trained and conversant in working in a respectful workplace. Timing is right for planning with a call to action for innovative approaches, alongside contemporary and sustainable leadership, which through collaboration with our communities, we can co-create capabilities effective in achieving the goals that we have set for the future. And skills to support innovative change for our elected representatives, staff and community together. I believe social networks and trust have the capacity to grow our

01:11:00 greatest return on investment. So I think at this point in time in 2023, to also have good fiscal management to stem the flow of people leaving government positions, and also with the changes in the Office of Independent Assessor that's being looked at, that came through, I think it was last year, I think it was last year, I think it was last year, I think it was towards the end of last year, to then look at ways of delivering training in the workplace for our elected representatives to help contribute a positive and meaningful contribution to a safe workplace. The significance of the matter strategically sits alongside those recent changes. And I think this affects all of Australia because there's local council government across Australia. Intrinsically, the motion is aimed at addressing the identified gap for elected representatives who under legislation are seen as the other. In relation to psychosocial hazards legislation

01:12:00 to support equity and protection for elected representatives. Being the same as those given to employees, for example, through the Fair Work System. When entering a workplace environment to promote the continuous improvement of the removal of identified barriers to ensure safety at all times and a supportive environment for all. Councillor Wilkie: Mr CEO, if enacted, would this protect councillors when they're doing their work interacting out in the community? Speaker 9: It depends on where this goes. I think this is the start. It's basically recognising that, from my understanding, it's recognising that psychosocial safety is a major workplace health and safety initiative across all organisations now.

01:13:00 So it's got a higher profile with our staffing. So we are doing a lot of training last year, this year, coming in terms of our staff. What's been identified is that councillors come under ABBA. So it's really saying, well, where do you fit, and if that gets changed, then that training would be afforded, and it should be afforded, to all. And then those same legislative protections would then be in place for all. So that's really where it's going, but it's still got to go through that path. And I think what Councillor Finzel is saying is, we've identified it, let's address it. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah, I was just wondering about the scope of it. Councillor Jurisevic: I think the point was there, and I think you've reiterated on it, that councillors are not viewed in the workplace health and safety legislation in the same way that council staff are.

01:14:00 No, that's right. Councillor Lorentson: Can I step in? Oh, sorry, Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Just, Mr Chair, just in respect to your question, when I raised this motion previously at the LGAQ last year, during that time I had some conversations with LGAQ staff, and we did talk about mandatory training to keep councillors safe with more and more outward facing to community post-disaster management. For example, I went to a lot of homes that were flooded in that recent flood event, and then looking at... Yeah. ...councillors and elected representatives to be able to access the same type of training as, say, for example, SES workers and other volunteers that go in and do cleanups or other working groups. So, yeah, that is also part of the conversation. So I think this is a really timely opportunity to just start those narratives and then just see where that moves.

01:15:00 It's a really early working space. As you know, we got a report back the other day from the lawyers in regard to the Office of Independent Assessor and how we're looking at, like, the changes that are going to be coming through the pipeline over the next couple of years to look at how we could be more effective and proactive in delivery of training, as opposed to relying on Office of Independent Assessor, which is under-resourced, which led to the changes, and then looking at ways to better, you know, I guess, start at the beginning and then start at the end. Instead of trying to close the gamut at the top. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Lorentson. Totally support the motion. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. I do want to add that the workplace health and safety, although we're not employees, does capture other persons at a workplace under Section 29. Other persons at a workplace is us, councillors and members of the gallery.

01:16:00 Mm-hmm. And so we are actually owed a duty, and that's imposed by Section 29, that a person at a workplace, whether or not the person has another duty under this part, must be take reasonable care that his or her acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. And the Work Health and Safety Act also further defines health as meaning physical and psychological health. Mm-hmm. So there is some protections by virtue of Section 29. Yes. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Thank you. I'll turn to the chairman. Yeah. So I have a question back to Councillor Lorentson. Thank you for the clarification. Is there anything in my notion that you would like to amend? Or are you satisfied? Councillor Lorentson: No, but I'd like to discuss maybe a little bit, Karen, to help you get it across the line. But I love where you're going with this. Thank you. We're not employees. And it's more in terms of mandatory training. Yes. And I think that is what needs to be really emphasised in the motion.

01:17:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Thank you. The other element of that is that our workplace isn't behind a desk. The workplace is... Correctly. Out in the community as well. So there are... Mm-hmm. Ensuring that we have adequate cover for... That's right. For those sort of things. And understanding what our obligations are when we're out and about. And I agree. If that's something that training is... Should we facilitate it? Councillor Lorentson: Mm-hmm. Section 8 of the Work Health and Safety Act actually defines workplace in your right chair. And chambers would be... Yeah. Would fall under that definition. But outside, possibly not. Yes. Councillor Wegener. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. I actually really support this. Thank you. I think that... I look at... I just wonder who would want to be a counsellor knowing that we know. You know? Like seriously. I don't... I just wouldn't... I can't imagine like saying to my best friend, oh, you know, you should go out. Yeah. I know the people if you stay. So... So... And I think that the vaccination, the COVID really brought out a new wave of dangers

01:18:00 to being a counsellor. And I think it's even less, you know, appealing to be this, you know, knowing what you're going to go into in this new world of social media and kind of a different place than we expected that we grew up. Our world is gone. Yeah. So... So I think that we need that kind of rehab training to step into the next version of what a counsellor actually is as a job, as a contractor, I guess. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Lorentson, just to talk about your motion. Sure. My motion, and I'll read what it is. I'm calling for the National General Assembly to recognise the urgent challenges facing Australia in wastewater recycling. And to tackle this issue, it's imperative that the Australian Government make significant investments in wastewater recycling, which is crucial for environmental sustainability. The investment's essential to progress overdue water sector reforms.

01:19:00 Innovation and research to address forever chemicals like PFAS and other emerging contaminants of concern. This holistic approach not only promotes sustainability, but also fosters trust within communities. The motion and summary key arguments are in the report, so I won't go over that. I will note that I've brought forward this motion as part of my ongoing advocacy and dedication to our community and also to clean ocean. I will continue to emphasise that our oceans should not serve as dumping grounds for treated wastewater and stormwater. I've pursued this advocacy both at state and national levels over the last four years, seeking these policy reforms, investments and funding to address what I consider a critical issue. I'd like to give everyone an update because my efforts have not gone unnoticed. At the moment, my ELGA motion from last year against ocean outfalls and for wastewater

01:20:00 reuse, it's currently sitting and waiting for a response from Minister Catherine King. And I've also spoken to Josephine Rapady from LGAQ, who is in total support of this motion. And she's also given me an update with lots of promises that, again, my efforts are going to be reformed in this space. So, again, as long as I'm in council, we've got to do something more. We recycle 0.86% of treated wastewater. It's just simply not good enough and I understand the funding and complications and we need all tiers of government to come on board.

01:21:00 You know, in Europe, and I won't rave, but in Europe, they have targets, the European standards, they have targets by 2027 that all wastewater treatment plants need to be upgraded to what's considered kernery treatments. That actually captures your PFAS and all those microplastics and all these emerging contaminants of concern. In New Zealand, only just a few weeks ago, they actually banned, the EPA actually banned PFAS from cosmetics. So there are countries and councils across Australia and across the world and in Europe that are taking a stance for best environmental practice. And I think this is an opportunity for a council like Noosa that's different by nature to start leading the way. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Mr Murdoch. Councillor Finzel: Can I add anything? Councillor Lorentson: I'll second it. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. All right. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Finzel, you have the floor.

01:22:00 Councillor Finzel: I really have nothing to add, but I do think it's a really fantastic opportunity for councillors at a local government level to be able to advocate and raise the issues that Councillor Lorentzen and myself have brought to the table. There's a lot more, of course, out there, but I think it's really timely. And as Councillor Tom brought to the table, like given post COVID, post the disaster, I do believe our role as local council elected representatives is in a transition. It's definitely changing. I think even when we talk about our work being out of the office, I mean, everyone here, we all see each other, how much time we spend on emails in the office, phoning people. You know, it's become a major, not a major, but also a really significant part of our position. So I think it's really timely that we bring these motions to the General Assembly. Given its national significance and to support sustainable leadership and look after our

01:23:00 environment and our people. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Jo, you had a question? Sorry, I had a question for Councillor Lorentson. Sure. In what you just said then, promotion refers to wastewater. And in your statement then, you added stormwater. Stormwater and treated wastewater are two completely different elements. Councillor Lorentson: I did. But, and my focus on all my motions are wastewater. I threw in stormwater and treated wastewater. That's why I'm being very careful with the language. Absolutely. That's specific to Noosa. Councillor Jurisevic: Very different channels. I'm happy to talk. I must admit I had concerns when I read Councillor Lorentson's motion. Only in the language. In the last sentence, collaborative approach for trust and sustainability. I didn't get it when I first read it until I read the major crunch and the reasoning behind it. I understand the reasoning behind it. But I still, whether that could be worded a bit differently or a bit better, is about the only negative I've got in regards to it. I support both motions.

01:24:00 Councillor Finzel showed me her motion and I handed it back to her and said I'd get it immediately. Thank you. It was as clear and concise and as clear cut as I've ever seen something that had meaning and substance. So I appreciate where that comes from and where your motion comes from. Also, Councillor Lorentson. She's been championing the, you know, trying to get State and Federal Government to look at wastewater recycling. And I know there is a lot of talk through Sec Water about re-channelling wastewater recycling. And I know it's been a challenge for the State Government to even consider that because there was a lot of backlash in that regard. But we've got to be aware that, provided it's been processed and processed correctly, and that the contaminants are ready for it, that it is a resource, not a waste product. There should be opportunities to utilise it. It should be looked at at every opportunity. It's a long way to pump it up at places if it can be used locally as well.

01:25:00 So the opportunities that it presents are far greater when we produce a product that the community can have trust in. So that's where the trust part comes in. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I'd like to move on to the next question. Through the Chair, please. Yes, Councillor Finlayson. So, D, I'd like to move on to Amendment D, authorise that the CEO make minor amendments to the submission prior to submitting to ALGA. I'll second it. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Stockwell will second it. Yes. My apologies. Amelia? Councillor Lorentson: I'll leave these. I've made some very minor adjustments to my key arguments and motion that I submitted the motion. Last week. Last week. Very, very quickly. So I'd like to have just an opportunity just to clean it up a little bit. Thank you.

01:26:00 Councillor Wilkie: Any further discussion? I think the motion has been amended. That goes in favour. That's unanimous. It becomes part of the original motion. Thank you. Any other councillors wish to speak to the original? Councillor Stewart. Mayor Stewart: I just wanted to add a commendation. I think the motion like councillors have been built on their motions before. This is a really good thing to attend. You know, I've done 500 councils at the National General Assembly. It's really worthwhile. It's an opportunity to have your say, to advocate on a national level, at a national stage with all those, you know, hundreds and hundreds of councils in attendance and also government ministers, which is who you really need to get to. So I think it's great. I think they're incredibly worthwhile motions, both of them. Both extremely, you know, very different, but certainly incredibly worthwhile. And I think our next councillor should be really proud to have them, to have both councillors and whoever else chooses to attend at the General Assembly speaking on the Ms Shine's behalf. So congratulations and good luck.

01:27:00 Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: So question through the Chair. So the motions have been ratified through council. They still need to seek support and ratification through ELGA. So not necessarily, they don't necessarily have a tick as yet. Claire? Yes. Yeah. That's right. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. Thank you. They have the option to have a tick. Yeah. And now we have the advocacy for the ladies, I'm sure. Yeah. Thanks a lot. Yes. Councillor Wilkie: Look, I'm more than happy to support this motion. Both those motions involve, if successful, means more training and education and safety and security for us as councillors and also those that come after us and councillors across Australia, and also better practices in regards to how we treat our treated wastewater, so better environmental outcomes. So they're both very, very good initiatives to support. Thank you. Anybody else wish to speak? Karen, do you wish to close? Councillor Finzel: No. I think everything's been said.

01:28:00 Thank you for the feedback. It feels good to be supported by all of you. I think we've all been supported by the councillors around the table and, you know, work together to achieve these outcomes that affect all levels of government. And hopefully these affect the future people that are elected to positions across all levels of government. And also help to, we all work hard to get to these tables and these decision-making places to also help in some way stem the number of people that leave for all sorts of reasons once they get in. So thank you everyone. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Thank you for the information. Those in favour? That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Larry. And the last item on the agenda today is the Operational Plan Quarterly Report. Deb, welcome. Hello. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Speaker 5: Come on. Okay. Councillor Wilkie: Can you give us a bit of an overview please, Deb? Yeah. For the Operational Plan 2023-24 Second Quarterly Report.

01:29:00 Speaker 5: Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor. The report covers the progress of implementation of operational plan initiatives from the 1st of October to the 31st of December. And although we're now in February, it is only until the 31st of December and then consequently where we're at now will be reported in the next quarter. The reason I raise that is there have been some recent developments which actually have impacted on some of the initiatives to actually improve the progress of them. But unfortunately, they weren't captured in that by the 31st of December. So I just wanted to bring that to your attention. So the majority of initiatives are progressing well with 117 or 79% either completed or on track. And 23 or 15% are experiencing a minor disruption and nine, a major disruption. So we've seen an increase in completed tasks. We've seen a decrease in initiatives that are on track, with some of those being completed

01:30:00 and some of those moving to a major disruption. But very minimal. The attachment one to the report outlines the actual figures and provides some explanation as to why there have been these movements. The first part of the attachment looks at overall progress, wherein then it goes into detail by each theme. And as we have reported previously, we've taken an exceptionary approach where we've provided an overview to give Council a very easy overview of what's going on. We've provided the sort of vision, if you like, of how we're progressing. And there is further detail, though, against each initiative's progress in attachment to, and that's this document here. So we thought it was important to provide that, especially at Q2, because we're six months into the year. And you would want to be reassured that projects are progressing because you wouldn't want to get to sort of Q4 and get any surprises. So we have provided the level of detail there.

01:31:00 And if necessary, Council directors can talk to the specific items if you have any questions. So that looks at performance. The other attachment to this report is in relation to our key performance indicators. And these are the indicators that we've been reporting over the last few years. And it shows movements in very things like average lost time, injury, development approval, timeframes, et cetera. So we've done a lot of work on that. And I'm happy to take any questions in relation to those or the attachments. Councillor Stewart. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Debra. Again, really an easy degree. This is so well done, because initially your eye goes to the red, which is the main construction. I know. Maybe I should choose a different colour. Just a question on that. The main construction seems to be that there's, you know, the hold up seems to be the trend that we're waiting on. It's really stuck.

01:32:00 Are we in the process of procurement for those two positions? Speaker 5: Was Shaun going to be available to me? Speaker 9: No, unfortunately Shaun had to take off for another appointment. I can answer some of that, if that's okay. From a traffic and transport coordinator position, we've struggled to attract the right skills that we think we need for this position. Traffic and transport is such a major piece of where we're at and there's so many ideas and plans and thoughts in our whole strategy. So we will be back into the market shortly but we've made some adjustments within our own staffing to try to redirect people's focus of existing staff into that area.

01:33:00 So we're back on track to some degree in terms of some of the things that we've unfortunately had to sit on for a number of months. So we're back trying to readdress some of that and certainly for the next cycle of council we'll be very focused on those. Those areas in particular. From a delivery and infrastructure point of view, we've had some slight disruptions there but we think we're back on track there as well in terms of making sure that we're delivering to the level that we need to deliver in the current circumstance or current market. You've seen the reports and different reports that we are tracking very, very well in terms of delivering the massive capital works programs that we've got. Speaker 5: Through the Chair as well, I'm just reading some notes, you'll have to forgive me that Shaun actually prepared. And the BRT process is also seen as clarifying the availability of some additional funding to be able to move through those tasks associated with the Transport Strategy Action Plan and Parking Plan.

01:34:00 So that's good news. Councillor Lorentson: I have a question. The Environment and Sustainability Round Tables. I'm not even aware that that exists. And is there a council representative on the Round Table? Through the Chair. Kim online? Kim, are you there? Speaker 9: Yes. Did you hear the question? I am. Did you hear the question? Yes. Speaker 8: Yes, I did. Yes. Through the Chair. Thanks, Councillor Lorentson. We have over the years had a number of Environment and Sustainable Round Tables. It's not an ongoing process. It's not a formal group. What we do is we pull together a range of organisations, community-based organisations around particular issues. So we have a series of Environmental Round Tables to input into the Environment Strategy.

01:35:00 We also had Round Tables to input into the Environment Grants process. So the concepts worked really well in the past. So it's been included in our operational plan to reinvigorate the idea of Round Tables. We haven't held one yet. But it is the intention to do so in the coming months, when the new council's in place. All councillors will be able to attend those. Councillor Jurisevic: Excellent. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: The same project will be initiated at the end of early 2024 and coincided with the beginning of the Environmental Strategy Review and only the strategies on the reading of the piece. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Kim. I have a question. You might be able to answer it, Kim. On page 127, there's a graph. It's the number of planning applications decided within the statutory timeframe. And it looks like we're struggling a bit there. What are the ramifications when applications are not decided within the statutory timeframe?

6.4 OPERATIONAL PLAN 2023-24 Q2 QUARTERLY REPORT ¶

▶ 01:35:46· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:36:00 That's Richard. I know. Kim had... Oh, Richard. Sorry, Kim. Richard is here. I didn't see him up the back there. No worries. Speaker 3: What graph are you looking at there? Councillor Wilkie: Page 22. Page 227. Number of planning applications decided within the statutory timeframe. I think it'll be this. One of the left. Speaker 5: Yeah. Is it... Speaker 3: Here we go. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So this... All this graph highlights to you is, I guess, the numbers decided each month. And, obviously, we've got a whole lot that are in... Basically, currently being assessed that are within the statutory timeframe. So they're obviously not decided applications. So I guess what this graph is just showing is, of the green ones, how many that we have decided per month and how many we're actually holding. So it probably highlights quite clearly that we've got a large number of applications that we're actually currently processing. We're deciding a number of them.

01:37:00 And some of that has been due to some staffing issues we've had in the past where we haven't had... We've had a 25% reduction in staff numbers in that team. We are recruiting, at the moment, to fill all those vacancies to help get a lot of those current and active applications decided so we can meet those statutory timeframes. So that's been a bit of a problem for us. Councillor Wilkie: What happens if we don't meet the statutory timeframe? Speaker 3: So for code... Councillor Wilkie: Deemed approval... Speaker 3: Correct. Yeah. So for code-assessable applications, they can become the deemed approval. We're very lucky we don't get many, if any, of those at all because we work quite closely with the applicants to ensure that we keep the timeframes current. So often that is, they'll agree to an extension of time by agreement if we're still negotiating out particular elements of the proposal, they'll extend and we'll work through those issues. So quite often we'll get an agreement to extend timeframes. Also when we issue information requests and request for further information, the... The clock stops again to allow them to provide that up to three months, so...

01:38:00 And we work quite closely with the consultants to ensure that we've got sufficient time to make sure we can decide those within timeframes. But yes, you're correct that there is a risk of deemed approval with code-assessable applications. That's why we really need to be ultra-vigilant. For impact-assessable applications, if we don't decide within timeframe, they can become a deemed refusal. So you don't often see too many applicants seeking those, as that's not the outcome often they're seeking. No. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 3: Karen. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. I just have a question, mainly directed at Kim. On page 110, we've got as a major disruption to the community strategy is resourcing is not available to undertake the work, as proposals take place in the 24-25 budget. Kim, are you, through the Chair, are you able to just give us a little overview of what sort of resourcing we're looking for in that space around the community strategy?

01:39:00 Speaker 5: Yes, I am, yes. Speaker 8: Thank you, Councillor Kim. Is Kerri in the room? Speaker 9: No. Kerri is online as well. Speaker 8: Sorry, Kerri, it's probably you, I guess. Oh. Kerri, would you like to jump in here? I'm happy to, but you might want to. I don't think she, I don't know. Councillor Jurisevic: You should better go on. I don't, I'm not sure Kerri's online. No, she'll just send me a message to say she's back online. Speaker 9: Sorry. Okay. Councillor Finzel: But I don't think she's online. She wants us to let her know, which I don't know. Oh, okay. Speaker 8: Yeah. So, I might start. You start, yeah. Okay, okay. Thank you. So, I'm going to go back to the first question, which is, what's the budget? Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. Speaker 8: That's correct. And we are doing some initial work, though, to prepare for the community strategies.

01:40:00 So, we are scoping up an audit of community facilities at the moment, and that's been done through Kerri's team. And we'll also be scoping up a process. It'll be a very highly engaged strategy, as you can imagine. It's the updating and replacing, and more broad, of the social strategy that currently exists, which is a number of years old. So, there'll be a combination of resources that are required around dedicated staff to work on it, funding for a highly consultative process to inform the strategy, and then some technical pieces around understanding infrastructure and needs and things like that. Kerri has just jumped online. Yes. If you wanted to add anything, Kerri. Councillor Finzel just asked about the resources required for the energy strategy. Speaker 7: Apologies for that, Councillor. Just had some technical issues.

01:41:00 But, yes, the resourcing issues that we've got at the moment, particularly within our community development team, given the operational workloads with supporting the community, is not leaving the time required for the dedicated work that goes into that. So, if you want to take a strategy, large pieces of work like this need dedicated resources, and they're just not able to find the time, because the day-to-day requirements naturally take priority. And as Kim mentioned, we will be scoping that up for next year's budget, because it's going to need dedicated resources. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. And through the Chair, is part of that dedicated resource then the Community Connection Manager to be employed? Yes. Speaker 7: No, there already is a Community Connection Manager employed. That's Alison Hamblin. Yes. It would be more that we would – there's specific pieces of work that need to be undertaken,

01:42:00 a social infrastructure audit, which normally we outsource. There's consultants that have very good models that undertake that work. So, some of it would be undertaken externally, and then there'd be a project officer internally to run through the process. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Speaker 7: One of the impacts on the ability to start this is that – and you might have seen in the other comments – that we were not successful in being able to appoint a contractor to do the cemeteries plan, and so that we've made that decision to largely do that piece of work in-house. That's taking priority because of the land use implications and using the same staff that would have been doing the work on the prep work for the community strategy.

01:43:00 Councillor Wilkie: I have a question probably for Kim. Councillor Finzel: Thank you, Kerri. And Kim. Councillor Wilkie: It says finalised green economy industry development plan. It looks like it's being done. It sounds like there's some quite exciting material that could come from that. Would you like to answer that question? When is that going to be presented and understood? And forgive me if I've missed a report on that. Speaker 8: No, Councillor Wilkie, you haven't missed a report on that. That is being finalised at the moment. We're just doing some final tweaks to it. And yes, there is really, really exciting information and actions proposed from that. So once we've finalised that, and at this point, new council is established, we'll bring that forward to Council. Once we can get onto a council agenda in the coming month. Councillor Wilkie: Okay. Councillor Stockwell. It is as follow on. Councillor Jurisevic: Likewise, complete Shire wide employment land review. I assume that would incorporate the Don's Landing, the industrial land at Cooroy, and

01:44:00 elements like that. And I see a final report received 10th of the 1st. I'm assuming that's by staff and a report if you have to come to Council. Speaker 8: The employment land review really looks at... Excellent. ...the future needs of co-employment, industrial and employment land of our Shire. There is some separate work being done, and if Trent's in the room, you might want to talk to it, through our commercial property unit that's actually looking at council-owned assets and how they're best utilised. Like you mentioned, Councillor Gerritsvig, Don's Landing, and when that might be appropriate for activation, capitalisation, and so on. Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: So that's not... The employment land review covers something slightly different. Speaker 8: That's correct. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay.

01:45:00 Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: My query, and I think probably Deborah is the correct person. In the KPI report, you have a measure of staff turnover rate as a percentage of establishment level. The comments appear to say something different to what the graph says. Yeah. Yeah. So the comments don't say anything. You talk about a 16.56% October to December. On the graph, you've got 0.1% in December. Speaker 5: My interpretation of... Sorry, these figures come from the system. But my interpretation of that was that was the difference, the actual difference, which was the 10%, so... Which was the percentage increase for the quarter. So the 10% is actually the increase... The amount of increase for the quarter. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Point one percent. Point... It says point one percent. Point one percent. Can you... Can we just... Because it is a... Yeah. Yeah. A statistic that is of considerable interest. If it's 16.56, we're not going well. If it's 0.1, we're going well. Speaker 5: Yeah. Well... The difference might be...

01:46:00 Yeah. No. Look. I'll take that back and clarify that. But the way that I interpreted that, it was the 10% increase. So, yeah. I'll double check that. Councillor Wilkie: And I'll come back to you... Thank you. Speaker 5: ...for Thursday. Councillor Wilkie: Amelia and Karen, you had questions? Councillor Lorentson: Yes. And this might just be wording, but on page 110, 2.4.8, sorry, 2.5.8, Deb. Speaker 5: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Deliver an accessible adult change facility under changing place program on the Noosaville foreshore. And the funding was diverted to Ed Webb Park. So, I've got a couple of questions in that space. So... Yeah. Sorry. I'll ask... I'll throw a question to you, Deb. Sure. Can you just provide some clarity? Are we still delivering an accessible adult change facility at the Noosaville foreshore? And are we still diverting some funds to Ed Webb Park? And where are we with that? Speaker 5: I would have to refer that to the director or to the relevant manager.

01:47:00 So, Trent might be able to answer it as well. Councillor Lorentson: Trent might be able to answer it. I can provide some as well. And I think it just reads... It's just the wording. ...doesn't read well. Because I'm looking at it going, we didn't put our hand up to, you know, cancel an accessible changing place facility to spend on a park. I think it's more just wording. Playing with words. Yeah. Sure. Speaker 12: Through the Chair... Through the budget this year, as you know, we get a lot of grant money coming through for various sources. We did receive a grant allocation for $790,000. Yeah. Which we initially earmarked for a changing place facility. Given the timeline on that grant that we had to acquit the grant money by 30th of June, in just the expediency of where we're at with the projects, we redirected the grant allocation monies to Ed Webb Park because that was a project that was already underway and further down the track. In terms of the changing places facility itself, our understanding is they're continuing to

01:48:00 progress the design work. And as we know, integrating that with the Noosaville foreshore master plan as well at the same time. So that work's continuing. And you'll see that come through in the 10-year capital program for next year's budget. Councillor Jurisevic: Fantastic. I don't believe we've made a determination on exactly where that facility is going to be provided. No, no. Councillor Lorentson: And that's why it was diverted. It just doesn't read. It doesn't. Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you very much for that. I appreciate it. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Just a question for Trent. Trent might not be the place for a report like coming. Just in relation to the industrial sites review, is that completed? Speaker 12: Through the share, we're partway through the project. It's under theme five for excellence. It's the strategic property review. We're progressing well with it. There's a few stages with that. Obviously, the first part of the primary output part, which is about the review of the land stock that we currently have. Councillor Wilkie: Mm-hmm. Speaker 12: And the second part of the exercise through our commercial property advisor is developing

01:49:00 a policy or framework around our actions and decisions moving forward long-term about acquisition, disposal, activation, or long-term holding of land parcels. So that will also give us a framework to guide future decisions with land as well. So you'll see that come through towards the end of the financial year. Councillor Finzel: Yeah. That sounds great. Thank you. Anyone care to move the report? Councillor Wilkie: Move. Councillor Finzel: Councillor Finzel. Councillor Wilkie: Seconded by Councillor Stewart. Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Well, yeah. Firstly, I'd like to thank Deb. It's a really good report. Easy to read. And thank all the staff that contributed all the data that has to go into it. I know it's a big job. It's been really easy to read. It's really succinct, which is great. And it helps us when we're going to make decisions to look up key indicators and data. It puts it really firmly at my fingertips. And it's easy to collate all that and inform moving forward.

01:50:00 So thank you to the council and all the staff. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Councillor Stewart. Mayor Stewart: Deb, thank you. It's my last one. Councillor Finzel: I know. Stop. Mayor Stewart: I'm having tissues, Claire. You shouldn't make me cry. I know. But thank you. Again, really easy to read. Yeah. And I think that's what the council said. The traffic light and how that's done is great because you might, you know, you straightaway, you focus on what needs to be achieved and then you can ask questions from there. So thank you. Great report. It just shows how much. I think I did a radio interview this morning or something about we've got 73 capital works projects in the pipeline and other. Wow. Massive. Record in terms of expenditure and recovery. And as well as everything here, which is substantial. So thank you to the team and really the whole staff, Larry, because this is, this is a very, you know, snapshot of so much work. So thank you. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: All right. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I'll just quickly. Councillor Wilkie. It's really quite interesting. So, you know, whether we've got a capital works or whether it's our financial reports,

01:51:00 all these reports that come to council. When we look at risk and opportunity, it's always risk is always human resources. And I think the operational plan actually translates that into, you know, what happens delays and, and yeah, just, just puts that in perspective. So thank you again. And good work team. Speaker 5: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Joe. Yeah. Same. Councillor Jurisevic: If anybody wants to understand the goings on in council, take a look at the number of initiatives that are trying to be implemented under an operational framework. The day-to-day operations, day-to-day activities is as usual. That's all of these additional bits and pieces.

01:52:00 That's the capital works program. Guys, there's a lot of work going on in this place. This just shows how much, and these are only overviews of the details, the detail, the measure and the amount of work that goes into each of these initiatives that we're trying to do year on, year out. So I just thank the staff for their time and effort, their dedication and devotion to what we, as councillors, throw at you year in, year out to try and achieve and try to keep this council and this community being served in the best way possible. Councillor Wilkie: And just building on that, the sheer volume of work that is underway, the sheer volume of projects that are underway. I want to commend the staff for successfully masking their grimaces when in meetings like this we pile more work on, because all this work is set at the budget, during the budget process, and throughout the course of the year, during meetings or amendments or whatever, we can add extra work, slip in extra work, and I appreciate the patience and the forbearance

01:53:00 of the staff when they take that on board, on top of the heavy workload. And I'm sure there's... Speaker 5: I might just also take the opportunity, if I may, in addition to this work, there's other work going on about, in relation to our business improvement, we've got business improvement running through our ICT area, we've got all managers now looking at their service profiles and reviewing their service levels and standards, so when it comes time to discuss the budget, we've got a really clear picture on those, and that they're up to date. So this is the additional things that managers are taking on. At the same time as delivering their projects, business as usual and other reporting requirements. So, yeah, it's a lot happening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Can I use the place? Are you down? Speaker 5: No. Councillor Wilkie: Okay. I'll put the motion. Those in favour? That's unanimous.

01:54:00 Thank you, Deb. Thank you, Deb. Done. Councillor Jurisevic: All done. All right. Councillor Wilkie: This is the last item today and thank you councillors, that's the last general committee meeting of the term. I thank you all for your discipline, your patience and your contributions. It's been very enjoyable. Is this where we start? Thank you.

8 MEETING CLOSURE ¶

▶ 02:40:07

Council's recording ends before this item. Where a meeting resolved to close its doors, that is what the end of the recording means — see what council discussed in private.