General Committee - 15 July 2024 Transcript

1 ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES ¶

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2 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES ¶

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00:01:00 I'll move to second. That was moved by councillor Wilkie and seconded by councillor Lorentson. All in favour? And councillor Finzel? Yes. That's unanimous. We move on then to items referred from committee. And the first item there is in regard to the unity water net serve model. We do have our director, Kim, coming to us. And we also have a visitor from Unity Water which we'd like to invite to the table. Speaker 2: Come on all. Speaker 1: Good morning. Speaker 2: Good morning. Director Rawlings: Good morning. Hello councillor. This is Chris Hartsall. I'm responsible for the net serve modelling for Unity Water. So thanks for being with us Chris. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Hello Chris. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Good morning. So Kim would you like to do a general overview or do we hand straight over to Chris?

3 PRESENTATIONS ¶

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4 DEPUTATIONS ¶

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5 ITEMS REFERRED FROM COMMITTEES ¶

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5.1 Unitywater Noosa Netserv Plan - Planning Assumptions (Referred from Planning & Environment Committee dated 9 July 2024 - Item 5.1) ¶

▶ 00:01:38· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:02:00 Director Rawlings: We can do a general overview. So, as we talked to you at the planning committee, this report seeks your endorsement of the Unity Water net serve plan, which is the plan that looks at the planning assumptions and a range of inputs around growth and development in our community. Chris might talk to the breadth of the net serve plan in which local governments it crosses. We've worked closely with Unity Water on the planning assumptions from our own NUSA plan. And as mentioned at the planning committee, we take into account development constraints. So, you know, areas that can't be developed as a result of bushfire, flooding, biodiversity, those sorts of things when we're looking at growth scenarios on each lot. And it's an iterative process.

00:03:00 So we use the NUSA plan to do that. We also use development approvals. So what's actually been approved on lots to validate the model. And, you know, there's a range of inputs into the process. There's a requirement under both the Planning Act and the, get the words right Chris, the restructuring, water restructuring. Speaker 2: Structuring, retailer. Oh, structuring, retailer. Retail, sorry. That's it. Director Rawlings: It's right in front of us. All of that. And then there's the, for Unity Water to adopt a plan and for Unity Water to be confident that the NETSERV plan aligns with the planning assumptions of each local government. So in order to do that, we need council to therefore endorse the plan and the models to give that assurance. So that's what's in front of you today. And given that it's quite a technical process and competencies, I think it's important that

00:04:00 this process, Chris is here to answer any questions from that perspective. Mayor Wilkie: I have a question. The report makes reference and makes a point of saying that the planning assumptions are, what are they, they're projections, not targets. Could you elaborate on what you mean by saying that, please? It's an important distinction. Thank you for the question, Councillor. Speaker 2: So our forecasts, forecast projections, they are a projection or forecast over time. In terms of targets, we do also have the targets that we need to meet under the regional plan. The Shaping SEQ regional plan sets dwelling targets and sets employment targets that we need to demonstrate. So in our planning assumptions documentation, we actually go through and demonstrate how we've met those targets. So they're the only targets that we need to achieve. The rest is our forecast, such projections on how we're going to achieve that target.

00:05:00 So it's no different, I guess, than the state government or QGSO population projections. They are just a projection. So the only target that we have to meet is what's applied under the regional plan. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And just to clarify, the regional plan sets a dwelling target. It also had some rather ambitious or unrealistic population forecasts, but that's not what you were trying to make. Yeah. Speaker 2: So the regional plan doesn't have a population target. It only has a dwelling target and an employment baseline that you have to try to achieve. So I know there were some comments around, you know, the population numbers that have been previously provided. That's not something that we have to demonstrate that we need to achieve. So it's just purely dwellings because a population target is very difficult to achieve because it comes down to how many people are operating in that population. So if you're buying a dwelling and the assumptions around that, it's much harder to forecast,

00:06:00 but a dwelling is something that's known and can be measured quite easily. Councillor Lorentson: Chris. Oh, sorry. In terms of reliability, how critical and reliable are the DMAT forecasts when you compare them with other forecasting tools that are used by the state? Good question. Speaker 2: Yeah. Good question. So the model, the modeling software which we call DMAT, which is known outside of the Indy board as the 4CAS modeler, is now being used by Gold Coast to Wamba and is about to be used by City of Moreton Bay as well. So we, back in 2014, actually developed the software based on our own specification and then it's gone to other councils for them to use. So like all modeling packages, it's limited by the accuracy of the data. That goes into it, which is why we've spent many hours and much resources on making sure

00:07:00 that we've got a very accurate snapshot of what's on the ground in 2021. So that's why we know that the census, for example, doesn't accurately capture the number of dwellings on the ground, because we've actually looked at every property and made sure that the dwelling count is correct. We've used your tourist accommodation levy. Is that what it's called? Or is it the- Director Rawlings: Transitry accommodation levy. Speaker 2: Yeah. That levy data to actually isolate specifically which dwellings are accommodation versus a permanent resident dwelling. And we've all looked at that at a property level. So we're very confident that that is accurate. And then capturing development approvals. Then actually looking at the results themselves. We look at the sequence of dwellings. We look at the process of development that's required to make those projections. And we look at how credible those projections are and how reasonable they are, given what's

00:08:00 happening on the ground and what's coming. So that's why we have some high-level confidence in the projections, because we can actually see what properties need to develop to meet those population projections. So we're not projecting growth that can't possibly ever be achieved by the current planning scheme. So that's the process that we've had. That's what we're trying to go through. Which is not something that we can see from the state government's methods, because ourselves, we haven't been briefed on their methodology around, you know, the modeling packages that they've used for the regional plan. We haven't been provided with any of that information. I can only comment on what we've sort of done. And I personally always look at the results and the impacts on the ground in terms of the sequence of development, what properties, and how many properties need to develop over time to give confidence that the projections can actually be realistically achieved. So there's sort of the test over. Councillor Lorentson: It seems very thorough and credible. And given that now you're saying that it's being adopted by Gold Coast from the Northern

00:09:00 Road Council. So again, adding to that credibility space. Question probably now directed to Kim or Michelle. Is, how, how well have you been able to do that? How have you integrated the DMAT tool forecast into our, our other planning and forecasting tools? So, so I'm sort of, sort of understanding how data feeds the DMAT, but vice versa. Does, do we do the same? Director Rawlings: Yeah. It's definitely an iterative process. And we work really closely with Unity Water to make sure, like Chris says, what's being projected is realistic. Speaker 8: Yeah. Director Rawlings: You know, so there's lots of spot checking and going back and forth. There's lots of spot checking and going, okay, well, we put all the inputs in. This is what it's saying for this area. Is that realistic? You know, so we look at it and go, well, we know this is not how that area develops because this, that area is, you know, full of, you know, single houses on medium density

00:10:00 lots or whatever. So, and that's unlikely to change in the next 30 or 40 years. That's just an example. So we do that spot checking process to make sure there's a, there's a realistic, um, approach to, to what's being forecast. So yeah, it's, it's both an iterative process and, and we, you know, when we have been brought into the executive regional planning process about what's realistic for us, and as you would know, we did a lot of going back and forth with that. We rely on the DMAT data because it's so robust to demonstrate to the state government that those forecasts are not realistic for us. We've got a model that's been developed over 10 years that's very robust. This is what's realistic for us. This, this takes into account all of our local constraints and information. So yeah, we do rely on the information and, you know, work through an iterative process with Unity Water on it. Councillor Lorentson: So a really great tool, um, for us to leverage to oppose the state's monitoring growth targets

00:11:00 and we discussed that earlier. Yeah. Speaker 2: An example of that is looking at the proposed amendments to the Noosa plan. We were able to model those planning scheme amendment changes and then look at what impact that would have on available donning supply, for example. So the tool itself was developed for that purpose in mind where, um, also for other councils like Central Coast and Moreton Bay where they're doing new structure plans, master plans. There's new growth areas. Popping up everywhere. Um, we use the tool to run those areas through the model to get an understanding of how much growth and therefore what infrastructure is required to, to support that. So we're doing the same for Noosa. It's just on a much smaller scale. Councillor Lorentson: Questions?

00:12:00 Uh, I still have questions. Um, and, and just probably just one last question. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm also, um, understanding that this information also feeds community water, um, in terms of potential upgrades in wastewater treatment plants. Um, can you give me any information or am I going a little bit outside the scope? No. Speaker 2: No. That's a, that's a perfectly fine. So our planning assumptions includes, you know, uh, dwellings populated areas. We're moving towards a installation for space and employment, but it also calculates our network demand projections based off the same demographic projections. Uh, those demand projections feed directly into our network models, and network master plans, which then determines what infrastructure upgrades that are required. So not just through our treatment plants but also, you know, pumps and pipes and things like that. So, so that goes into a network master plan.

00:13:00 So those network master plans identify a list of work that is required. So that's where you see, when you see our NetServe plan in its entirety, it has a schedule of works, very similar to your eligibility and planning scheme, where it's got a list of trunk works, the timing of when it's going to be provided, a description, and an estimated cost. So that's where it ends up, and that's what we actually go ahead and build. So that's sort of the process where it flows through. So we also use it to identify renewals and replacements of existing assets, and when we decide, or when we need to replace an ageing asset, we use the same information to determine, well, what do we need to replace it with? Is it life or life? Do we need to upgrade it? So it sort of supports all our planning functions across Unity Water. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you very much.

00:14:00 I've got a question. In figure 8 and figure 10, you do bar graphs. Of your forecast net residential population growth and net employment growth, are those things relating just to your water and sewerage service area, or is it relating to the Shire as a whole? Speaker 2: So our planning assumptions apply Shire-wide. The reason we have to plan for all properties within the Shire boundary is the state population projections, Shire-wide, the regional plan, dwelling targets, and employment baseline. So they're all Shire-wide. So we actually prepare planning assumptions for all properties, but what we do when we use it for our network planning purposes, we clip the information down to just our service area and then plan towards that, and the rest is not used. But it's only used to show how we meet those Shire-wide sort of targets. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: It's quite interesting if you look, because you've got it against two different tile frames, 2021-2041 and 2046-2045.

00:15:00 And the clear one is the employment is Lucille's, where all the jobs are coming in, and there's obviously the Lucille Business Centre, but then strongly the hinterland. But the population growth figures show that clearly, you know, after 2041, it's about even between coast and hinterland. But after that stage, the proposed objective is heck of Baltimore and the hinterland. And I suppose for a long-term planning and our planning scheme, one of the key considerations is just where... ...where that long-term growth is and where we have to start putting our mind to how we're going to prepare for that, because if, you know, if we leave it to future councils, it might necessarily be the most cost-effective mechanism to do it. Speaker 2: And the Lucille hinterland SA2 catchment, you might be aware, it virtually covers about 70% of the Shire area, all within, so it includes a number of townships like Cooroy and Pomona.

00:16:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Mm-hmm. Speaker 2: Then the rest of the rural areas all sits within one large SA2 catchment, so it does, I guess, well, not that I believe it's probably not the correct word, but it does encompass a large area. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, basically, you've got all the other ones that are small, like Noosaville, Noosahead, Sunjump Beach, Tewantin, Peregian, Marcus. Speaker 2: Which are quite, yeah, small. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, we add them all up, they're about equal in the next, in the next period. The one after that, you add them all up and it looks like the hinterland's got the majority of the growth. That's cool, that's cool. Speaker 2: And what we've tried to do with the employment is make sure that we're forecasting sufficient employment to keep pace or exceed population growth. There's an issue with the regional plan that they revised the dwelling targets between the draft and the final. I'm fairly certain they forgot to do that. Yeah, they forgot to adjust the employment 2046 target, because if you look at it, it is significantly higher than the population would be at a similar time period.

00:17:00 So what we've done is made sure that our employment, you know, keeps pace or exceeds the population, so around that 41% of the population is employed. So the best you could possibly ever achieve is about 50% where that's your working population. So sitting around that 41% and trying to sneak it up a little bit. So that's what's driving the employment growth. But at a small scale, we project full space and employment growth at a zone level. And those zones are broken up into your different types of centres, your Shire business centre, your different industrial areas. Each area has a different growth projection in terms of full space and employment. In all that context. And that comes together in terms of overall growth. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: One more might be a start question. As part of our submissions back to your security regional plan was about us calculating dwellings using secondary dwellings.

00:18:00 Is this model sufficiently refined that we identify a range of block sizes, for example, that would be potentially suitable for secondary dwelling? And so those figures are in here as well? Speaker 2: I can answer that. We went through and looked at every property that was zoned low density residential. And selected out the properties that had a sufficient size, sufficient backyard area, sufficient access. And identified every property that could be suitable for a secondary dwelling. And we built that into our model. And what the model does is it only develops those properties if it needs to meet the population projection. So you've got all these properties that could have a secondary dwelling. But it's only developing as many as are required to meet the projections. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And just out of interest, when you said we go and look at every individual property, is that a human looking or an AI looking?

00:19:00 Speaker 2: No. So human eyes. Which we've looked at options of using AI to do that kind of thing. But you need to train the AI based on something. So human's always going to look first. That's fantastic. Director Rawlings: Easy to really see. Yeah. Speaker 2: So another great example is they have a boom in their backyard. So it doesn't matter where their house is sitting. They've got a boom in their backyard. You can't pull the pool out. And also looking at things like appropriate side access where they can actually get a driveway down. All these little nuances and factors. So we've got an actual, in our land use and density assumptions, a specific layer that identifies where those secondary dwelling properties are. And our assumptions assume one house, one secondary dwelling. And they have been sequenced for development as required that goes into the mix of everything else that's been sown. Mayor Wilkie: So Chris, you're saying every property, low density res property, that can fit a secondary dwelling?

00:20:00 Has been factored in? It's been identified. Speaker 2: So if you look at our ultimate dwellings, the maximum possible number of dwellings that could be achieved, that's built in there as well. So which greatly exceeds what we require by 2046. Mayor Wilkie: Can you say how many properties capable of having a secondary dwelling? Speaker 2: Yeah, I can definitely provide that information back through. Yeah. The number of properties and the number of additional dwellings that could be accommodated. Yes. Mayor Wilkie: And Kim, you mentioned in the report that only, these are maximum estimates. That's right. And usually only 70 to 80% of that development capacity is realised. Director Rawlings: That's right. Mayor Wilkie: That's right. Director Rawlings: Because as we know, not everyone wants a secondary dwelling. Mayor Wilkie: No. Director Rawlings: As we know, not everyone develops their land to the capacity that can happen.

00:21:00 But for infrastructure and planning papers, we need to, we need to issue, you know, model an ultimate so that you can properly plan infrastructure, you know, if that happens. We know, and I've been in government, we all have now for 30 years, we know that that never happens. You know, you never develop to full, every block up to highest and best use. It doesn't happen. But for infrastructure planning purposes, we need to understand what that is. Mayor Wilkie: To be ready for the maximum effectiveness. Director Rawlings: To be ready, that's right. And to, you know, to ensure that there are, there are triggers in your works program to be able to, you know, build capacity in and continually check that. We work in construction networks and that's why we, NETSERV's continually reviewed, our legips continually reviewed. We re-look at planning assumptions. We re-validate. We re-look at every block to actually see what's happened. You know, constantly to make sure that our planning assumptions and our planning frameworks are informing our infrastructure networks, our scheduled works, our capital works.

00:22:00 You know, to make sure those things are in sync. It's a fundamental part of all the work that we do. Speaker 2: So our capital works program goes out to 2046. Our treatment services plan, which is our sewage treatment plants, is planning horizons 2056. Which is why we go out to 2056. To support those real long-term, high capital cost decisions that we need to make over that time. And ultimate sits at an unknown point in time. And ultimate will change over time as future planning schemes are prepared and amended. It's always going to be a moving figure. So, but the longest we plan towards is 2056. Occasionally we'll look at ultimate. If the difference between growth at 2046 and ultimate we might decide, because it's the most prudent decision, to consider what is ultimate when we're planning an upgrade.

00:23:00 Because it might be the most cost-effective solution rather than planning for something less. And then knowing that in the years to come we're going to have to replace it again. So that's part of the capital works planning process. Where decisions are made about what's the best solution. What's the best financial decision to make in terms of upgrading. Because the reality is the additional cost is not necessarily the size of the infrastructure. It's the actual constructing it and labour. Sometimes it's far more effective to put in a slightly larger main at the time. Than put in a smaller main and then replace that main in years to come. So that's why it's always good to have an understanding of what the ultimate number is. Mayor Wilkie: For just comparison purposes when planning. So Chris based on these projections can you say when an upgrade of the Noosa heads to a water treatment plant. A McCoroy water treatment plant may be on the cards?

00:24:00 Speaker 2: I can't say that myself but we do provide the same demand forecast to Secwater. So when they're planning upgrades to the water treatment plant they use the same numbers. They actually rely on our numbers now that we have to provide our demand forecast to Secwater. And they're planning their upgrades around those numbers. I'm talking about the sewage treatment plant. Oh sorry you mentioned water treatment plants. The sewage treatment plants. Wastewater treatment plant. So wastewater treatment plant. That's planned as part of our capital works program. The same as any other works. What year have you planned it? Councillor Lorentson: I can give you that information Frank. If Chris has got it. We've got the source here. Speaker 2: Yeah so we have planned in our capital works program. Planned upgrades to all our sewage treatment plants. Depending on what's required after 2046. So that's part of our capital works program as well.

00:25:00 So that's handled as part of our treatment services plan. Which is a specific plan to our treatment services of treatment plants. Then we have our network models and network master plans. Which plan for the rest of the sewer network and the water supply network. Councillor Lorentson: And Frank more specific. Yes. So the next five years the unity water capital program includes castaways nearing completion this year. Bicentennial Drive, Sunshine Beach currently scheduled for 25-26. Garnet Street, Cooroy currently scheduled for 26-27. And Station Road, Pomona should be advised. Mayor Wilkie: This is the pipe network. Councillor Lorentson: That's the five year unity water capital program. Pump stations. Mayor Wilkie: Pump stations. Councillor Lorentson: Pump stations. Pump stations. Mayor Wilkie: But do we have a year for when the wastewater treatment plant will be upgraded? Yes. Speaker 2: So in the NETSERV plan that we're currently working on it will have a new schedule of

00:26:00 works. Which is the latest. It's basically the latest version of our capital works program. Which will replace the current NETSERV plan and the current schedule. It does have planned upgrades to our treatment plants. And what I've done is. I've taken the questions around what we're planning for and passed those questions on to my manager because I'm dealing with the planning assumptions side of things. So I've passed those questions on around what plans, upgrades do we've got to our treatment services when, what the nature of the upgrades are. Are they renewal replacements? Are they to fix something that is broken or reached the end of its life? Are the upgrades growth related or are they just ongoing maintenance issues? So I've asked my manager to provide those answers back so you can understand what's been planned for. Mayor Wilkie: So the update is scheduled when it's released in the NSERV plan.

00:27:00 Speaker 2: It'll have each project mapped, it'll have a description of what it is, the time frame of when that upgrade is to occur and the cost. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask one final question? So in terms of the forecast and the population changes, in terms of this is outside of the scope of this report, how does or does it affect the assessment process under the Environmental Protection Act in terms of environmental licences and permits? Speaker 2: So I've also passed that question on to my manager as well to answer questions around licences and permits. So I've also passed that question on to my manager as well to answer questions around licencing, licence agreements and how that fits within our land upgrades. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So I've also passed that question on to my manager as well to answer questions around the environmental protection and the I've got one that came to mind, probably once again, with the fine-grained nature of the data, do we have access to that in a spatial GIS context?

00:28:00 I'm thinking some of that prediction about where secondary buildings might go would be very valuable for transport planning because in the old days you'd just ring off a neighbourhood and say it's five vehicles per day or eight vehicles per day for a household but if you knew where the process was coming it would certainly influence not just where to put what size insects but also where might be where we need to look at public transport upgrades. So is that something that we actively do? Speaker 8: We do, yeah, we do that and we use that and we're looking at doing a project at the moment around integrating that through the transport. We also do transport planning, so that's where we're learning. So we're developing an integrated land use and transport model? Director Rawlings: That's exactly that, yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Very good. Yeah. Director Rawlings: This is the land use scenarios to transport these. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And the other thing you can do, following on from that, I'll ask a question. Question, is there a question? What if every 27 people rode a pushbike or a e-bike to work, what would that do to push off future works and therefore reduce rates?

00:29:00 That's the thing that we start showing the downstream impact of motor change. Is that right? Director Rawlings: Yes, once you've got the model you can run a number of scenarios. Speaker 2: And from UniWater's perspective, having a common set of underlying planning assumptions it also enables us to align our planned upgrades and works with the planned transport works, which is something we're lacking in other council areas where there is no real coordination between planning, infrastructure planning, and infrastructure planning between transport, water and sewer. Director Rawlings: So if you're digging something up with one purpose, then you consider multiple, perhaps two. Speaker 2: We have had cases where there's been a road upgrade and there's been a road upgrade and the same water and sewer infrastructure was put back in the ground. No one asked the question, should we put something back that has a greater capacity?

00:30:00 So we've had those cases. It's not a good idea. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Have we run out of questions? Would someone like to move the recommendation? I will. I'm happy to move it. Do we have a seconder? Councillor Wiesner. So thank you. I think that's really good information and I think we've all got a much better appreciation of what this model does and how it's put together. I know from a community perspective every time population objectives are put forward we get the public commentary about breaking the population cap. And what, if I can just interpret what this does, is the Noosa planning scheme still invents all the same principles as the 1997 strategic plan did where people set a cap. All those things about what we protect in nature and what we don't do. And it's all embedded within the plan scheme. And this model just far more accurately projects what the likely sustainable population is

00:31:00 as a result of applying those principles. It doesn't increase it. It doesn't say we're opening the doors. It just says back in the late 90s it was a fairly rudimentary process of how you estimated what the population was. This one is far more as we've heard down to each life, what's its life development capacity and what year we're likely to get to it. And my transport planning is if I, if there's one area where we can probably say that our sustainable carrying capacity hasn't exceeded, it's obviously in our road network. Because we know that congestion is a sure sign that you've exceeded your sustainable carrying capacity. And that's, we've got two options there. One is to build bigger roads or change modes or provide ways to ensure people get to where they want to go without necessarily going in the car. So, thank you. Anyone else wish to speak? Councillor Lorentson: I'll just add, it's just really great reading. Thank you, Chris. Just the breakdown of how many retail shops to dwellings to industry and it's broken

00:32:00 up into precincts. So, great reading. Great information. I can imagine for strategic plans as a councillor, just really great data. Speaker 2: And I'll just also finally add too, our planning assumptions are actually published, once endorsed, are actually published online on our website. You can actually go and look at our planning assumptions at a property level within our service area. I forgot to mention the reason we do that is because we have private certifiers who sit outside of Unity Water. They're going to look at our service area. They're going to assess connection applications. As part of their assessment, they need to look at what we're planning towards in terms of demand and compare that to what a developer is proposing and undertake an assessment to make sure it's consistent because if it's not consistent with the planning assumptions, we can look at, well, can it be serviced? Can we impose conditions on how it's to be serviced?

00:33:00 So, operationally and day-to-day, it is used at a property level, which means we have to be accurate, as accurate as we possibly be at a property level because that's why it's used day-to-day. Another question. Mayor Wilkie: Is this all your work, Chris, or did you have a team helping you? I've got an off-sider. Well, in that case, please accept our thanks to you and your off-sider for working so well with our staff. Speaker 2: It doesn't make you feel any better, but we have to do this for the three council areas. Thank you. And there's no getting around the fact that it just takes a lot of time and effort to get to this point. So, like I said, the software that we had developed and what we used is only as good as the data that's put to it, so there is no silver bullet. There is no AI-ing your way out of the machine. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Anyone wish to speak?

00:34:00 No. No. I will close by saying there's one thing that was treated by Councillor Lorentson. The other good part of this is it does forecast employment and population and as it's embedded within the SEQ regional plan and our plan scheme amendments, the best place to put new residential is close to employment so we're not generating the traffic that causes congestion and school bus pick up time etc. So it's also really good to look long term about where we do cater for both employment growth and for population growth. So I'll move the motion. It has been moved so I'll put it to a vote. All in favour? And that's Councillor Finzel? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That's unanimous. Thank you. So we move on to the next item and this one I believe is a confidential item. So I'm going to move that to be moved. And so we'll move. Thank you Cr, I'll see you later.

00:35:00 Then we go to reports direct to General and the first one is a financial report for June 2024. And we have Pauline and Trent coming to join us at the table. Pauline, would you like to give us an example? Yes, I can. Speaker 1: Afternoon Councillors. Financial performance report for June 2024 shows the future of position at year end. However, financial adjustments are still in progress which might have material impacts on our final position for the year. A further report on final 23-24 financial performance will be provided to Council in November 2024 following the finalisation of our independent audit for the financial statements in October. In summary, our operating revenue for the year is $1.5 million. And while we have been tracking above budget, there is a real reason for that.

6.1 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT – JUNE 2024 ¶

▶ 00:35:06· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:36:00 So interest income is $2.1 million above budget. Sales of goods and services are $1.5 million above budget. Other revenue is $600,000 above budget. However, that's been offset by lower than forecast fees and charges of $2.1 million. The major movement in the last month has been operating market revenue and the main driver behind that is the receipt of the financial assistance grant. Historically, Council received that grant in advance. So we would normally receive the 2025 payment in June. However, that did not occur this year. So obviously that's quite a large amount to have received. There's also several other grants that, due to the timing of delivery of those programs, have pushed out into the next financial year. Our operating expenditure is $9 million on descent with $2.2 million of this relating to our employee costs. This year's and services expenditure is $6.7 million under spent.

00:37:00 And this relates to levy programs of $1.5 million and grant funded programs of $1 million. And those will both be quarantined and held in reserve for future use for those particular programs. Commercial operations, which is waste and all their parts, are $1.6 million under spent. And general operations is $2.5 million under spent. This month we have actually provided you with a detailed breakdown. of materials and services so that you can see the movements in those particular items for the whole year. Again, tourism and economic development, we provide a monthly update for that. And that expenditure is showing a slightly behind budget of 56,000 under spent. There is a quarterly legal cost summary, which is also included, which shows legal and associated costs, which is consultancies and legal counsel support, $400,000 over budget with the majority of this relating to development appeals. As requested at the previous general committee meeting, a summary of expenditure and consultancy fees has been included, which shows expenditure by council over time.

00:38:00 These summaries only include operational consultancies and not consultancies that relate to capital projects. It should be noted that general consultancy spend relates to specialised services and the quantum is dependent on the nature and the size of project that council's undertaking at any particular time. Overall council's interim operating position at June is in the surplus of $7.8 million, with the drivers of this position being additional interest revenue, waste and holiday park surpluses, employee cost savings due to vacancies and the timing expenditure for grant and levy programs. As I mentioned, there will be further accruals, commissions and accounting adjustments that occur in the coming months with the finalisation of the financial statements later in the year. In terms of capital program, excluding our disaster projects, council has spent 67% of its all year capital program. Which equates to $30.6 million of its $45.9 million. And $40.6 million has been spent in relation to our QRA disaster projects.

00:39:00 Council's cash holding at the end of June was $105 million, with $30 million of these funds invested in hiring and higher yielding return deposits, and we also included the cash dissection for this quarter as well. Overall council has finished the financial year in a strong position, and obviously these interim results may change between now and furthermore. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Questions? Councillor Lorentson: I won't let anyone speak first, I feel like I'm speaking. First, Pauline, it's probably one of your best reports. I so appreciate the effort you have to have done this down, and I think that's really, really important. Keeping it simple. And again, encourage any residents when they ask, you know, we've got 11.1 months worth of cash reserves, and three months is only required.

00:40:00 Why? It's all here. And really, really simplified. Defining what's restricted, unrestricted, etc. OK, sorry, sorry, sorry. OK, I'll keep that. I'm going to start with... Start with above-budget, below-budget, and sort of just a generic question. So, breakdown, and I appreciate the material and services. When I look at above-budget and below-budget, probably the question I'm asking is... ..how does the below-budget achievements or above-budget achievements, how do they impact our overall financial outcomes? How do they impact our overall health and planning? And really, with the above-budget achievements, do we really invest the additional revenue into these facilities that are over-budgeted, or are they sort of directed to other council projects?

00:41:00 Speaker 1: Well, depending on the source of the surplus. So, like, I decide waste for most, and in fact, we would put aside that reserve to go back in. We do take a dividend from those particular businesses to help fund general operations for council, but we do also put aside funding for those projects that they might need that help those businesses grow or maintain the service levels that they reside. In terms of grants and levies, those particular funds get set aside and used for that purpose for that particular levy or grant, so they're committed, regardless of whether they're sent this year or next year. And in terms of any surplus that results from the general operations of council, they would generally go back into reserve for us to use on future capital works projects or new initiatives that come out as part of budget increases. Councillor Lorentson: So, in terms of... I'll just draw on what you were saying in terms of levies. So, we have specified... funds to use for specified criteria that's outlined under the levies.

00:42:00 How often or should we be reviewing and assessing the effectiveness of levy allocations even when we have got... surplus in some... Speaker 1: So, as part of the annual budget process, we do review each levy annually as part of the budget process. And then at periodic times, depending on the life of that particular levy, it will get a full review of the program and the purpose of that levy to see if it's still relevant and producing what the outcome is originally intended for. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. So, should we be accepting a review of criteria and due purposes? Yes. Speaker 1: So, there's a number of levies in the coming year that the Council is endeavouring to look at and that will be what the Council will see Councillor Lorentson: during the year. Speaker 1: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. Speaker 1: Thanks. Mayor Wilkie: Just a little bit of a question on the Statement of Financial Position. The end of year forecast for cash and cash equivalents was $88,000... $88,900,000. We've ended up with $105 million. Could you just explain... I mean, it's a good discrepancy to have... Speaker 1: Well, there is a reason for it.

00:43:00 Mayor Wilkie: Yeah, what is the reason? Speaker 1: So, obviously, with the capital program that Council has, we've obviously, I've mentioned, I think we've spent about 67% out of 45. We are still planning to continue and deliver those programs so the money gets set aside for that. So, within that... Unspent capital. Yes. Mayor Wilkie: And there always seems to be... Money is unspent on staff training. Is there anything you can say about that? Speaker 1: They've done actually particularly well this year so it's not hugely unspent so they are working completely... Mayor Wilkie: There are improvements. Speaker 1: A training program that gets delivered. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Phillips: I have a question, please. I'm just going to work out how to ask this and if it's... That'll do. Yeah, thank you. I just look at the legal costs and over budget. I see that we have appointed

00:44:00 an in-house legal council. So, that was in December 2023. Could you tell me like what we plan to see, I guess, out of that, given that... My question really is... So, the biggest cost for us is our development application appeals. So, the biggest cost for us is our development application appeals. So, will that aid in that? Speaker 1: So, in terms of the legal council position, that position was never intended to work on specific things like development appeals because they are a kind of very unique, niche kind of claim and so that falls outside the remit as does a few other... The plan is the independence and those sorts of things so they will not be dealt with specifically with the legal council. The legal council was engaged to basically look at more generic council advice. It might be reviewing the contracts, drafting the MOUs, those sorts of things with the view of actually reducing the cost over time.

00:45:00 I think as that legal council has come on board, they've, you know, probably done more review of existing documents and templates and working with staff to understand their responsibilities and the areas that we might be lacking. So, I wouldn't necessarily state that we've seen a massive decrease in our costs for legal but certainly there has been an increase in terms of managing the risk to council things that may have been overlooked or not maybe scrutinised as much as they may have, should or should have been. Should we say it's mitigating risks Councillor Lorentson: for future issues? Mayor Wilkie: So, we need to reframe the benefit that we're expecting from the legal... on board legal council. Speaker 1: Potentially. And I think we're only six months into it. It's hard to sort of say longer term what that might look like but I think within the first 12 months it's really going to be more of this risk mitigation and improvement of the quality of what we have. Councillor Lorentson: And that's the hard part when you're just reading the document and reading 400,000 below budget. It's about how do we put a monetary value into risk mitigation and reputational damage

00:46:00 and I think that far exceeds the 400,000 below budget. Speaker 1: So, I know that the team are hoping that maybe during the workshop with council to work through with you what they have been delivering and things that they have to be in place so I believe that is coming to council to have a look at so that it better explains what sort of things they've uncovered and what they would have to work from another way. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, I'll follow up to another one specific in legal. In the Gemlight case the judge gave the indication that because of the influence seeking of a deferment that some costs would be eligible to be claimed for that deferral. Have we seen the benefit of that as yet Speaker 6: or is that still Speaker 1: I might have to go to Richard because I might get all out of that at the moment. Speaker 6: It's the cost analysis assessment process so that is likely to be settled in this financial year early this financial year so it hasn't been captured

00:47:00 as part of the last financial year so there should be potentially a bit more coming into next year. So, while we're over this financial year that refund Deputy Mayor Stockwell: with those costs awarded are likely to bring it back close to what we anticipate. Correct. Which is a very expensive Speaker 1: But as we always, when we talk about legal philosophy, particularly development, it really is dependent on what kind of cases are up and what kind of contacts they have. So it's hard to actually know. Mayor Wilkie: You received a letter the other day from the Commonwealth Grants Commission saying that the federal allocation for the federal assistance grants is going to be, has been increased. Do we have any idea of what our allocation may increase? Speaker 1: So in terms of financial assistance, so the financial assistance grant that comes from the Commonwealth and is distributed by the state, our allocation actually is going down. What? Correct. So there was a change in methodology in how the government applies and allocates those funding. We were notified a couple of years ago that we would have a decrease and we have seen a decrease.

00:48:00 Mayor Wilkie: I didn't read that in the letter they sent. It's an overall change in methodology. There were a lot of questions. Speaker 1: So it generally gets more directed to regional councils where they have a lot of money. The larger the road network and rely more on grants and the more financially sustainable councils. Mayor Wilkie: The more needy. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 1: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Hope to see you all soon. Councillor Wegener: I guess that there is a price to be paid for being successful. Mayor Wilkie: And being financially sustainable. Yeah, sustainable. Yeah. Yes. Councillor Lorentson: In terms of the breakdown of legal expenditure by type, I'm guessing this may be sort of captured in a workshop. Yes. But are we actually deep diving into that data and sort of reading what does that say about our workplace culture? You know, I'm looking at industrial relations advice falling really low.

00:49:00 So does that correlate to high workplace culture? I'm looking at development application appeals, planning scheme, amendments. As I read that property and lease costs. Is that an indicator of current health of the economy? Like is that information going to be looked at or am I just looking too deep? Speaker 7: Through the share, I think it's more of an indication of the types of work that we're undertaking at any one point in time. So for example, the council, you mentioned a workplace fire. The council is about to undertake a new certified agreement process. We would be seeking to support that. With additional legal advice. If we were undertaking a planning scheme amendment or we had feedback in relation to that planning scheme amendment, that would then require legal advice. So it's probably more reflective of the cycles we were at in the organisation, where we were at with leases, et cetera, et cetera, more than an organisational sustainability health perspective.

00:50:00 So I think through the deep dive, we can probably just reflect back on how we present which cycles the organisation is on from a business perspective. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: One little question concerning waste operations and then the standards, meaning that you can't – you have to be competitive among – but there's so few places to take your waste. Resource recovery centres, there's Gympie, there's . Is it hard to actually get a benchmark? Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 7: The national competition policy pricing is about ensuring that, as we said, our price based on our costs. It's not about benchmarking to other organisations. That's obviously part of it. The primary part is making sure that what we charge is the appropriate full cost of the service, not so much what it might cost competitively in the market.

00:51:00 And that's part of the discussion. The main thing is making sure that when we price our business, it's the true cost of the business. Speaker 1: We do actually look at other councils. The priority is to recover our cost and return and provide a return on our investment in assets into that particular business. But we obviously can only forecast based on what we know. And then if we get more waste or less waste or we have less – more cost savings, then we'll do better than we originally forecast. Councillor Wegener: I guess the reason to preface this question, we'll be talking waste strategy soon. And so it seems like because we are going to be very ambitious with our goals with our waste strategy, the cost may be going up now to cover the, you know, future where we could, you know, just charge less and then run ourselves into a bigger problem later. Speaker 7: And every waste business is at a different stage of their maturity in dealing or just different process requirements in terms of what they need to invest to make their business

00:52:00 run effectively. So it does differ significantly between local government agencies. Mayor Wilkie: In recent years, we've seen unprecedented increases in unimproved capital value for properties. There's the cost of living pressures that people are facing. Looking at the rates and arrears, you do a 12-month retrospective, and the thing I can't tell from this is, is there an increase in the number of properties that are in financial stress and putting rates in arrears? Speaker 1: I'd have to take notice of the number of properties. Mayor Wilkie: Because it doesn't appear to be. But it's only a 12-month look here. Speaker 7: Based on trends, councillors, we're not seeing any increase. Mayor Wilkie: It's very low, it's like 5% average. Speaker 7: The teamwork proactively will ensure that any rates and arrears where possible are put on a payment arrangement.

00:53:00 So there is that over time payment arrangement put in place. So we're not seeing the long-term significant increase. Where you might see marginal increases, it's very low value, is the accumulation of the small subset of property owners that are struggling to pay, as that arrears may not be managed, and it's getting bigger. We're not seeing significant changes in that at this point. Mayor Wilkie: Because over the last few years, it seems to be hovering around the same amount, just under 5% or slightly over 5%. Which is our... Speaker 7: It's a provincial benchmark, but there's no statutory benchmark on that. But the 5% is our target in terms of affordability. Yeah. And sustainable level of properties. Speaker 1: So this time last year, it was 5.4% compared to 2006. Okay. But it could be different back as well. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Councillor Wilson: Looking at the statement of financial position, the property, plant and equipment was quite a bit lower

00:54:00 than had been anticipated. Is that because of the capital works that haven't been completed? Speaker 1: Correct. And also part of the program. So that program of works that was also contributed to that, as well as our general capital program. So as those works come through the following year, that will part of our . Councillor Wilson: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: In terms of consultancy costs, thank you for the breakdown. I requested that. And I think it's a good thing that we're going to be able to do that. And I also understand we're going to have a workshop to delve deeper into consultancy and understanding it. One question. Have we benchmarked our consultancy costs against other councils of similar size and tier? Speaker 1: No, we haven't done a benchmarking against any particular council. It may be a little difficult because not every council reports that expenditure at that level. We do tend to give you a bit more ground in the detail.

00:55:00 So we can certainly have a look at what's available. But no, not currently, we don't. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Would anyone like to move the recommendation? Councillor Wilson. And the seconder, Councillor Phillips. Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Wilson? Councillor Wilson: No. Thank you for the report. Excellent report. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Would anyone else like to? Mayor Wilkie: Just to say thank you. Those reports get more and more detailed as according to the council requests. You have no problem adding the information that we request. So thank you very much. It's a big and interesting read every month. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Okay. I'll put the motion. All in favour? And Councillor Fintle? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That's unanimous. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thanks for that. And our next report is going to go to something

6.2 Recycling & Renewables Hub Masterplan – Stage One Concept ¶

▶ 00:55:57· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:56:00 that Councillor Wegener just referred to, a new stop in the renewables hub master plan, stage 1 content. And if we can bring in the acting director and the acting manager, and Kiron and Mark, and the report author. Which of the triumvirate is going to be ? Probably the acting manager. Mayor Wilkie: Kiron, are you the acting, acting? Speaker 3: I'm acting for the acting, yes. Mayor Wilkie: Or acting. Good to get that clear. Speaker 5: Councillors, this report seeks Council endorsement of stage 1 concept master plan for the development of the Noosa Council Resource Recovery Centre into a recycling and renewables hub. This master plan is split into two stages, with only stage 1 being considered today. The concept master plan follows the actions and themes from two key strategic documents for Noosa Council. The corporate plan, which highlights as a stage 1 concept master plan, follows the actions and themes from two key strategic projects, transforming waste management practices,

00:57:00 and diverting 90% green and food waste from landfill, and the 2023 From Waste to Resource Plan, which provides a vision that by 2035, Noosa will be a recognised leader in the transition towards a circular economy and zero waste to landfill. The development of the waste plan involved a two-part consultation process last year, through February and August, with the final plan endorsed in October 2023. Projects are now in the process of being developed. Projects outlined within the concept master plan were included in the consultation of the endorsed plan. A key theme in our waste plan is around infrastructure development. As without the right infrastructure in place, the key targets and goals and visions in these strategic documents won't be realised. The team has undergone significant research, benchmarking universally, and applied an engineering focus supported by an engineering consultant that's involved in the development of the

00:58:00 concept master plan design. Key projects included in stage one of the master plan include a transfer station upgrade, current design is over 20 years old, and there's been a transformational shift in priorities in the waste industry, from the waste legislation with the waste levy, and the volumes of waste that we're seeing come through our site, which is shown in figure one of the report. This has downstream impacts on our traffic and other operational issues on site. The upgrade will also look at the relocation of Reviva, a social enterprise on site that shop there, to a section of land at the entry of the site immediately on the left, shown in figure two of the report. This will open up the existing transfer station and Reviva area to enable a modern design of the transfer station and maximise opportunities for diversion, improved traffic flow, and future proof the site. Another project in the process is the construction of a new roadway.

00:59:00 This is a compost facility, transferring green waste into high value organic product, which can then be utilised by council crews, local farms, landscaping businesses. So this is a joint initiative with Gympie Council, and an advanced landfill capping and solar farm, seeking to offset council's power needs and providing renewable energy for the precinct. The capping improves environmental outcomes and by reducing emissions, and extends the landfill's lifespan. Thank you. So some key considerations for today. So the additional land required for the transfer station upgrade, for the relocation of Reviva. It's approximately 0.5 hectares of land within the existing site. This is located between the Planganaway Depot and Eumundi Noosa Noosa Road. So this is a strategic design decision, and a critical first step for the broader success of the project. Improving traffic flows so customers can turn left as they enter the site, taking pressure

01:00:00 off the road. This will help to keep traffic off the transfer station and the way grid, which has queues from time to time. It will minimise disruption to operations, with the staged implementation of the transfer station works. And it will avoid impacting on the Cleanway Depot, which has future operational requirements and contractual arrangements. So the next steps would be for council to lodge a code accessible development application for the relocation of the Reviva shop, the transfer station proposed new layout, and a new compound. So this would be a post processing operational area. And then this would come back to council towards the end of 2024, later this year. Another key consideration is for the renewable energy facility, or solar farm element of the master plan. This will require a separate use, requiring impact accessible development application and public notification. So again, this will come back to council for a final decision as part of the DA process. Funding for the transfer station upgrade. And solar components of this precinct will be sought through the federal regional precincts

01:01:00 and partnership program. So applications for this grant are time sensitive and delays to approvals of this concept master plan and concept as well. So there's funding opportunities available for us that we're pursuing. So the recommendation before you today is to note the report by the waste project coordinator, Chelsea, to the general committee meeting regarding the recycling and recycling of the recycling and renewables hub master plan, provided attachment one to the report. To note the benefits and opportunities associated with the proposed development of the recycling and renewables hub, and to approve stage one concept of the recycling and renewables hub master plan, pending funding and development approvals. Inclusive of section A, which is subject to code accessible development approval, that I referred to earlier, and inclusive of the solar site, which is subject to impact accessible development approval and public notification. Just a timing question, Mark.

01:02:00 Mayor Wilkie: Is it required that these DA development applications have to be in and assessed before you can apply for this grant? Speaker 5: Not in and assessed, but in. So we'll move the processes concurrently with the application. So lodged, yes. Mayor Wilkie: And we've discussed previously about changes that have to happen out of this facility because of safety reasons. Does that involve safety at the transfer station itself, like the area available to do these works of people in potential conflict, machinery, that it's essential that this work be done? Speaker 5: Yes. Mayor Wilkie: From a regulation perspective? Speaker 5: Yes. And the new design will alleviate a lot of those conflicts with people, plant, machinery, and just the sheer volume of people we currently have coming through the site provides a lot of safety issues.

01:03:00 And traffic packed up. Do you mind introducing the road at the way bridge? So through this process, we'll be looking as a criteria to alleviate those risks. I think that's... Speaker 3: Can you... Sorry, which part? I was just going to say that that graph, I think it's figure one, that shows volumes that are coming through that RRA pad, or that RRA area, and the increase over the last three to four years is huge. Mayor Wilkie: Mm-hmm. Speaker 3: So we have, in general, we can have up to 600 transactions through that area in one day. Wow. And that's just one-way traffic. No. I'm not entirely sure that includes clean-away transactions either. Yes. So the volume of traffic, the volume of material that we're moving into that area is expanding. So I think that just gives clue as to what the health and safety implications are for a design that was 20 years old. Mm-hmm. Mayor Wilkie: And the grant opportunity for this transformative concept is, can you say how large the grant

01:04:00 is that we'll be applying for? Speaker 5: So the grant that we're going for through the federal grant is up to $50 million. So we'll be looking at that. And then there's other funding opportunities to the concept that we're looking at, particularly for the compost project. Mayor Wilkie: Will we be applying for $50 million? Speaker 5: That's the intent, yes. Mayor Wilkie: Yes. Okay. Speaker 3: I think there's a... Yeah. We will put projects through. The grant process is, I guess, a process in itself. And the application is a process in itself. Yes. And we're identifying a couple of projects within this list, like solar and the transfer station. And they're in that window, between $5 and $50. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Any questions? There's a lot. Councillor Lorentson: How much in there? Can you move an amendment? Oh, let's move the...

01:05:00 Oh, excuse me. In that case, I'd like to move the motion with an amendment, if that's possible. Thank you. So, like during... Can you move that? Can you move that? Yeah, I can move that. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. I can read that now, yeah. So that Council, A, note the report by the Waste Project Coordinator to the general meeting dated 15 July 2024, regarding the Recycling and Renewables Hub Master Plan provided, at attachment one to the report. B, note the benefits and opportunities associated with the proposed development of the recycling and renewables hub. C approved stage one concept of the recycling and renewables hub master plan pending funding and development approvals of one inclusive of section A, which is subject to code assessable development approval, two inclusive of solar site, which is subject to impact assessment development approval and public notification and D, this is the part I've added, agrees to provide an extensive

01:06:00 extended public notification period associated with the proposed impact assessment development application for the solar site. Mayor Wilkie: Question, has that been, will that impact on our capacity to meet the time frame for applying for the grant, if it was an extended time frame? Speaker 3: I think it depends on the extension, so we probably need to understand the extent of that extension and whether that would be just, is it to be decided in this meeting or not, I'm sure. What did you have in mind, how many weeks?

01:07:00 Councillor Lorentson: I've spoken to both Kybrone and Richard briefly just before the meeting, so I think where I was sitting was I thought it would be given the climate at the moment in community in terms of community consultation and feedback, when an application comes to council, the opportunity, if anyone wanted to have a look at that. I think it depends on the engineering reports or any associated reports, at the moment we've got a public notification, which is 15 days, my understanding is with public notification periods, we can extend that period and it could be 20 days, an extra five days, so it's just allowing people the opportunity to review. Mayor Wilkie: But not an extra four weeks? Councillor Lorentson: No, no, no, just an extension because I think there will be technical, engineering, financial, But not an extra four weeks?

01:08:00 I'm happy to, but I just got that one on advice just before the meeting started. Mayor Wilkie: I agree, given that we haven't got a second of this, so agrees to provide an extra 20 days, 20 business days, which is four weeks. Agrees to provide 20 business days public notification. Oh sorry, it's already in there. No, I'm just typing that in, 20 days, which is an addition of five days, one week. Great. Does that affect the timing for the grant? No. That's great, yeah. Business days. I'll second it. Business days. I'll second it, Cathy. Councillor Phillips: And that, can I just clarify, that won't impact the chances of, or the timing for the grant? Speaker 3: No, because we, we, it would be the days. Councillor Lorentson: I'll just say extra, I think, 20 business days. No extra, just provide an extended cover. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: An extended cover. 20 days associated.

01:09:00 Yeah, that, that means fine. Yeah. The total. Mayor Wilkie: It's not saying an extra, like 20 days. It's saying an extended period of 20 days. Of 20 days. Yeah. Councillor Phillips: Couldn't we just do. Well then get rid of an extended and just say agrees to provide public notification period of 20 days. Yeah. Well that would do. Extended sounds like you could potentially be having 20 extra days. Yeah. Councillor Wilson: Couldn't we just amend C2 and public notification? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No, it hasn't been seconded. It hasn't been seconded. I've seconded it. I have now, yeah. He did before. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. I don't. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Can I acknowledge that? Mayor Wilkie: Pardon? Yeah, it is. Councillor Lorentson: So, given it's minor, can I just request the removal of the word extended? It is. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No, no. No, it's not the removal of the word extended. It's the council. So, are we all happy with that word to be removed? Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Please. Councillor Wilson: And a. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. Councillor Wilson: Provided public notification. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Ms. Lawrence, it's your floor to speak to the motion. Councillor Lorentson: Just to ensure that the community have an extra week to understand and review all associated

01:10:00 reports that are linked to, in particular, the solar farm and have an opportunity to provide any input. But I wanted to commend the waste team. So, I will speak to the motion. Commend the waste team. This is, as you said, 20 years overdue. And we need to take action now. Opportunity is in front of us right now with funding. So, it would be remiss of us not to do that. So, thank you for the incredible work for wasting. Yeah. And I think a big kudos goes to Chelsea, who's done a lot of work here. Thank you, Chelsea. Really excellent work. I've got a question. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I don't think I've read it. We had a nice picture of the potential extent of the solar array.

01:11:00 Have we got a ballpark of what the output may be in the report? Speaker 3: It's above average. It's above three megawatts. And below five. And below five. Yes. So, until you get to detailed design, we won't know the absolute number. But it's in that range. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And for people who may wish to compete, do we know what the centre and coast of the Speaker 3: solar farm is? I think it's below five. I believe. I wouldn't reply. No to that. Okay. Councillor Phillips: I have a question. Please. Can you tell me about compost site? I've never been so interested in waste management in my life. Compost. Can you tell me, just for the general household, what circular economy and what this compost site? Tell me how that will look for our residents, I guess. Speaker 5: Yeah. So, currently, we've got a process with our green waste. So, green waste being the kerbside green bins and self-haul residential and commercial

01:12:00 waste. So, we've got a processing place to segregate that. So, it's not going to landfill. We get about 14,000 tonnes a year of that. And currently, that gets processed just through a shredder. So, it gets shredded into mulch and sold or it's given away to the community. So, this compost is, I guess, the next step to that in terms of waste processing and technology. And the intent would be to put it through a bit more of a waste management process. So, it's a bit more of a rigorous process, not just shredding it, but it actually goes through a process of maturation and under other technical things and bagged at the end. And then it's a bit more of a sellable product for the community. And so, then we'll be looking at that product to use it in our council facilities, goes to farms for use or back into landscaping business. And that's where the waste comes in as a waste.

01:13:00 It gets processed and it gets reused out in the community as a product. And that's that circular economy that we're looking to achieve through all our waste streams where possible to try and generate that. The challenge is the market at the end and making sure that we've got a market for that product to go out, go back out the gate. Because without that market, you're left with stockpiles there and that gives us other headaches. So, yeah. What we're trying to do with all of our operations is to generate that circular economy with the waste streams coming in. Councillor Phillips: Does that help? Yeah, it does. So, with this, I can see over time when it's working, it's financially working for us, do we ever envision that maybe just a general resident that does a tip run once a week, sorry, once a year, would ever get... you know, a reduction in their tip fees or anything that could potentially, if we're

01:14:00 looking at this being a really good financial decision for us, would... Speaker 3: I think personally what is happening in waste across Australia and the world is they're actually making waste more expensive. In general, if you look into Europe, the landfill levy over there in Australian dollars is $300 to $400 a tonne and we're at $115, I think, at the moment. So, the general trend will be levees will go up and that's just to deter the landfill, make the landfill the last option. So, as we move towards that space, you know, we're in this ever-competing environment where that number is going up and we have to keep up with it. And if we don't keep up with it, it's going to cost us more. Councillor Phillips: Okay. So, then do you think there'll be a time where that educational piece for our community would

01:15:00 then be seen to increase in that so we see what people can do to... Speaker 3: I think we're in a good space. You know, the behavioural change in Noosa is an easy one compared to other areas. And, you know, currently this financial... last financial year, sorry, we diverted 52% of the total in tonnies that we had in our community. So, we've managed to keep our levees or our levees to the public. There's plenty of load considering probably what other councils are doing. I couldn't speak to benchmarking that, but I would guess that that's the case. Because we... Our levy that we would attract through the public, we're actually making a bit more of a surplus on that rather than being a cost. Councillor Phillips: But, Jess, we do have staff who work in education.

01:16:00 That's their role. And we take schools through. But it's also with the general public as well. Speaker 5: And I think part of these projects, if it's compost or whatever it is, there'll be an element of education and behaviour change to it. So, there'll be targeted education programs that go hand in hand with any of these projects that we'll deliver in the community. Speaker 3: And we've got some good support there, you know, tourism Noosa with, you know, plastic free Noosa and all that sort of stuff. But they'll be a very good organisation to hang onto to help us with behaviour change. Councillor Phillips: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Would it be fair to say that with all these initiatives in place, they will put downward pressure on what we could charge for any person bringing materials in? Speaker 3: In time, potentially. But I wouldn't like to say that right now. No. Because it's... You know, we are against... We are fighting a levy. Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: It's all externally imposed, and it will depend on the materials that is in that trailer that's a high proportion of recyclables or green ones for example.

01:17:00 Speaker 3: Most recyclables that the public bring in now is free in general. Any metal, cardboard, all those elements are free for the public to dispose of. I think what this does is try and make that easier. At the moment our infrastructure is set up for the ease to put it into the landfill, not the ease to recycle it. That's the difference. Mayor Wilkie: Could you talk about the necessity of working with Gympie to make the contrast facility work please? Speaker 3: Like most waste projects it comes down to an economic size, particularly when you start talking about processing. And between us and Gympie we probably have that number covered, about 20,000 tonnes, for the comp-op site to be viable.

01:18:00 So the relationship and part of the CompSec agreement for funding is that collaboration. So we've collaborated heavily with Gympie over the last year and a half, two years. And I think there's further benefits for Noosa and also Gympie in that collaborative effect in terms of moving waste from one place to the other, backhauling all the logistics and saving logistics costs. And infrastructure being more suitable for other areas than Noosa because of geographical constraints, layout, location to roads, all that sort of stuff comes into play. So that relationship and proximity to us I think will lead us to an advantageous position in the future. Councillor Wilson: For the location for Reviva, is that bigger than we currently have? Speaker 8: It's actually marginally smaller than the existing space.

01:19:00 I think what it will allow us to do is actually to optimise the layout so we can actually utilise the space a little bit better. Have better traffic flow for how you're dropping off your goods. If you want to come to the site, drop off some goods and leave. You don't have to enter the weighbridge queue. There's a lot more improvements in design that you're not marginally smaller site. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: When will the works to relocate the high efficiency sedimentation basin occur? Speaker 3: So it's due to occur in the winter of next year. So it will straddle two budgets for 2,500 years. And I think all our works on site in general, going forward is taking the view that our works need to be included in that winter months. And that's because of the drought obviously. Working on a landfill in the rain is not ideal. We have other constraints.

01:20:00 So we're trying to target our workloads in that period. And that's a slight change in mentality over the last couple of years, but that's how we're trying to structure forward. And it should pay dividends, but that's the target for next year. Mayor Wilkie: So with the timing of the grant, let's assume it's successful, when would these works be likely to commence? If you're successful in getting the grant? Speaker 3: It would depend on which elements got in first. So obviously we've got two grants. We've got the ComSec for the compost, and then we've got the regional one for potentially solar and the transfer station. The others we are self-funding through our capital works. So we can plan those as for next year. ASAP. And that will be the intention, because they are compliance related projects. Yes. Some of the others, including the solar, they involve capping. So we will need to make a decision at some point,

01:21:00 but the project itself in terms of the technical layer of that capping is probably a lot less work than what our traditional capping methods are. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Questions? Does someone want to talk to it? Councillor Wegener: I'll speak to it. Sometimes you wonder. I'll just have a question. Oh, yeah. Sorry, Karen. Councillor Finzel: Oh, sorry. Were you proceeding with a question, Councillor? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No. Councillor Finzel is deferred to you, so you can now ask your question. Councillor Finzel: Okay. Thank you. I just have a question regarding the preliminary and vital environmental assessment report, noting that some of the vegetation on the site, to be cleared, includes three scribbly gums that contain hollows and are estimated at 80 plus years of age. When we come to clearing of this site, is there a way that we can protect these trees? Speaker 5: Councillor, yes, definitely. So we'll work with key stakeholders,

01:22:00 including our environmental team, Reviva, on opportunities as part of the design for the Reviva, noting that there is currently a lot of open space in the Reviva. It's not just a whole footprint made of shed or a slab. So where feasible, we'll be looking to retain those scribbly gums, as well as provide a 10 metre buffer from the Noosi Eumundi Noosa Road. So yes, we'll definitely be taking that into consideration as part of the design. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Back to you, Councillor Wickman. Councillor Wegener: No, it's okay. Sometimes you... When do you celebrate a project? Because the end goes on forever and then it begins here, and there's benchmarks along the way. Well, I think that today is actually quite an opportunity to celebrate the master plan here, because it's a really big deal. It's probably the biggest legacy from the last council, is the waste strategy.

01:23:00 And I think it might be the biggest legacy from this council, the continuation of the development of the resource recovery centre. I think that it's a bummer, the removal of some of the trees. Hopefully we'll save those scribbly gums. But safety is very, very important. And as you know, it's getting busier and busier. More cars are going through. We have to accommodate that, because not only do you have to accommodate the continued growth of it, but you're going to be remaking everything in the first place. So it makes perfect sense that you have to be very, very reasonable about your space. And in order to be successful and to get it done as quickly as you can, you need space. The previous question I asked was about, you know, charging more and trying to offset the opportunity cost, because the opportunity costs of not doing it are infinite.

01:24:00 Incredibly expensive to do nothing. The do little or do nothing cost is so huge that it's unthinkable almost. So to transfer some of that cost now through the opportunity cost, I think is actually a good idea. It is reasonable. Comms, I think that the success of this programme so far has a lot to do with the two of them bringing the kids through to the site, opening up the site, lots of people hopped on those buses, and I understand that they were completely at capacity, and our own council going out there numerous times, the Tourism Noosa being involved, you know, extensively with the composting, the keep plastic free. Yeah. All that really adds up to a successful programme. So I think that this is, it's a celebration, Dave, to even be able to get to this point and pass the master plan today. It's a big, big step forward.

01:25:00 So congratulations. Thank you very much, team. Looking forward to this. Mayor Wilkie: Look, Councillor Wegener's said it. This is a transformative project. It's been long awaited. It will have social, economic, and environmental benefits. We really need to do it to get up to speed with what's happening in the rest of the world. We need to take better responsibility for our waste. The community, through the two phases of community consultation last year, really endorsed us going in this direction. It's an innovative direction, but it's much needed and it's necessary. And thanks to the staff for identifying the opportunity, doing the work to put forward these designs and also collaborating with the nearby councils to create the opportunity to share resource. We're not sharing waste, we're sharing resource. So thank you. It's much needed and long overdue.

01:26:00 Thanks. Speaker 3: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll just give you a bit of what to say. Even though you'd be expecting it to be old. I recall the debate when we first introduced these green things on wheels. And it took a while to get them up and running. I remember one councillor saying, how long has it really been? And it's been the same thing for this. It's been the same thing for this. We've been talking about some of these concepts for a long time. I remember a meeting back in probably 2016, 2017 on solar. And at that stage it wasn't practical to use them with capping. And now what we're looking at is potentially Australia first methodology to both cap and get better capture of methane as well as generate renewable energy. That is very exciting. You know, the transition from the green to the green, to a renewable energy system is on par with the transition to a circular economy.

01:27:00 We're in a position where no one's really quite sure whether the heavy vehicle fleets in the future are going to be hydrogen or electric. But can you imagine that we have, you know, garbage trucks set up. They do their own. The more they hook up and they're getting solar energy. And it's a virtual cycle. I think the concept that we're looking at, you know, is really important for the community to get their head around. Because the word transformation has been used. And in feedback on the destination management plan and regarding waste, that was what was required when we went into the waste plan. It talked about, you know, there was strong support for the political pay. It said, you know, the cost of dumping rubbish is going to equal the cost. And you know, it's hundreds of dollars per cubic metre to provide landfill. And what this layer does is try and reduce the amount that goes to landfill by giving

01:28:00 several options as you go through the resource recovery centre to offload those things that can be reused, recycled and revalued. So it is a big step. The other thing is, I suppose we haven't made enough of, is that solar farms and composting facilities are multi-million dollar. And that's a huge investment. And what this report is generated by is the opportunity to gain both state and federal funding of many millions of dollars. And it's an opportunity too good to turn down. We've heard about the state levy. Part of that state levy is being funneled into the big buck of money given to the SEQ Council as a mayor to run these big scale waste infrastructure projects. So we have to acknowledge that yes, there is increasing levy to try and change behaviour. But for the real cost of waste to be considered. But there is also a funding cycle coming back from the state to address and to at least

01:29:00 in part offset that revenue they've raised. So that's important. And we wish you well. And I won't be celebrating until I see the dollar signs coming in. It is a good step. And it is an exciting opportunity too. You know, when we look at stage two of actually moving on to, you know, the next stage of generating, you know, new businesses and new economic opportunity out of the waste stream. So we think very differently from the days when you could go to the dump and load a few things in the back of the heap that you can make by a little bit of scavenging. So well done. Anyone else wish to talk? Yes, please. Councillor Finzel. Yes. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Thank you. I just want to reiterate. This is a great vision for moving forward. In fact, 91% of respondents want waste managed in a manner that doesn't create problems for future generations.

01:30:00 That was just one insight from the 828 surveys that were received over phase one and two of consultation. So I think the community has spoken quite loudly and clearly that they are for looking to make sure that our waste is managed in a sustainable way for future generations. I want to just thank all the staff and the community and everyone who's been involved moving forward with us towards this vision to the future, and I'm looking forward to seeing this come to pass. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Yes, Lauren. I won't repeat what's already been said, but I do want to stress, this is unusable land that we're looking at transforming into a solar farm. I don't think that's been done. I don't think that's been raised, but it's a really important part of this narrative. And for the last term of the council and beginning of this council, we keep talking about how

01:31:00 we're going to diversify our economy. This is it. This is staring at us right in the face, and from efficiencies to economic benefits, environmental benefits, we've all discussed around the table, this is the opportunity for us to be able to do this. Reducing greenhouse emissions, attracting businesses, and also social and cultural benefits. And I say that because it's these sorts of projects that unite us as a community. This is stuff we can be proud of. These are legacy projects. And without saying any more, I do want to finish on a quote. Waste isn't waste unless it's wasted. And this is a really great way to exemplify that quote.

01:32:00 Thanks, guys. Excellent work. Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll put it to the vote. Those in favour? And Councillor Finzel? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And that's unanimous. Thank you. Now, Councillors, we've been going for a very long time. It's been an hour and a half. Are we ready to proceed? No. Break. Or have a five-minute break? So we will return. Okay, Councillors, we're going back onto the camera. Speaker 5: Okay, welcome back. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: We move onto item 6.3, which is a range of proposed motions that are to go to the LGAQ for consideration for the upcoming conference. Mayor Wilkie: I'll move it. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: We're moving the motions. And it's seconded by Councillor Lorentson. Would you like to talk to the motion, Councillor Lorentson? Sure. Mayor Wilkie: These are motions put together by Councillors and Council staff to be sent to the LGAQ.

6.3 2024 LGAQ CONFERENCE MOTIONS ¶

▶ 01:32:35· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:33:00 Their policy executive motion subcommittee will then look at them, have a look to see if there's any replication with other Councils' motions. They'll look to see if it's similar or not to other motions that have been moved in the past. And they'll make the decision as to whether they'll be forwarded to the conference, which the LGAQ annual conference, which will be held in Brisbane in October, and debated on the floor of the conference. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Does anyone else wish to talk to the motion? Councillor Lorentson: Sorry, through the Chair, are we not going through each individual motion like we normally do? No. We're not. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Not that you may talk to individual ones, if you like. Councillor Lorentson: Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. I'll speak to the three that I submitted for endorsement today.

01:34:00 The first is establishing BIG Councils, where BIG stands for Believe in Good, a workplace giving program. And rather than reading the actual motion, which is available online, I'm going to read you a quick, just overview. But the idea came after I attended the Red Shield appeal fundraiser a few weeks back, and was inspired by the fundraiser, plus the speaker, Rod Michio. I walked out with a simple question, what can I do and what can we do to create meaningful change? And I reflected and remembered something that I had initiated in the nine days before the event. And it was the Workplace Giving Program, where staff all contributed a small one dollar voluntary contribution out of their pay on a weekly basis.

01:35:00 And then that was given to a charitable organisation. And that small contribution had a big impact when you multiply by a lot of employees. So I considered what that would look like on a local level and then on a state level. And the potential is really quite big. So my motion basically puts to the LGAQ to support councils to establish a BIG Council or Workplace Giving Program, through the creation of a consistent framework. The framework should include guidelines for people with disabilities. The framework should include guidelines for setting up Workplace Giving Programs for local government employees, mayors and councillors. The framework for selecting eligible charities. And the framework for administering the contributions and funds.

01:36:00 Again, voluntary. And I would love, you know, the idea of Noosa Council could be the first council to become a BIG Council. Where, again, BIG stands for Believe in Good. Another motion to be made by the LGAQ is that the LGAQ should be the first council to become Support today is motions that supports wastewater recycling and diversion initiatives and it's basically, I'm getting a little bit more specific so rather than repeating what I bring to LGAQ every year and ALGA every year in terms of wastewater recycling and diversion targets, this one's a little bit more specific and I'm going to actually asking for funding for alternative treatment option trials such as the bi-solid gasification project down in Logan. In an ideal world, again, where I'd love to go with this is for Noosa to get funding for a trial similar to the Logan bi-solid gasification. Again, details are in the report.

01:37:00 The third motion came about, after attending ALGA in Canberra probably a week or two weeks ago. At this stage, local governments across Australia have no representation upon the Ministerial Housing Council. I think it's the only ministerial council that ALGA don't have a seat in and And it's probably, you know, really important. And so my motion requests that LGAQ advocate for ELGA to be a full member of the Housing Ministerial Council. And the idea is that we don't have a one size fits all

01:38:00 approach to our housing issues. And that local governments, just our planning powers, are undermined. And that we need tailored solutions that reflect our economic ecosystems. So this was really that important and came out, I said on the short term accommodation round table. And it was a concern that was repeated throughout all the councils in Australia. In fact, it was included, a motion similar to the one that I had in front of us was included as a special business agenda because of its urgency. And it was a last minute inclusion in the ELGA conference. So again, I hope this gets support. Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Anyone else wish to talk? Yes, please, Mr. Chair.

01:39:00 Okay, we'll go first, Council Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Oh, thank you. Just a quick overview of my motion. It follows up from our conversations today around creating, creating waste into a resource. I'm seeking an alignment of specifications for recovered products and infrastructure projects. I'm calling upon the LGAQ to undertake a comprehensive review into the end of waste criteria for resource recovery products against the specification for materials used in federal, state and local infrastructure projects. Okay. With this review hopefully it will encourage the use of recycled materials into roads, for example. At the moment, these specifications do create somewhat of a barrier to getting best use out of recycled materials.

01:40:00 Mm-hmm. And we don't want councils left with stockpiles of material that has the potential to be recycled and reused as a resource. Currently, there is an identified or perceived gap between the specifications required for materials to be used in state and local infrastructure projects, and the resource recovery products such as crushed concrete and specifications to meet the criteria for use in these types of projects. This request aligns with the strategic objective of the government, with the state development goals including responsible consumption and production, sustainable cities and communities, and good health and wellbeing. So thank you for listening, and I'm hoping that we get great support at the conference for this motion.

01:41:00 Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That's awesome. Councillor Wilson: I'll talk to a couple that have been put forward by staff. The first is on SDA activity, and that was put forward by Richard MacGillivray, that the LGAQ advocates the state government of Queensland to legislate that share economy platforms and providers, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and Stays, and SDA providers share their validated booking data, inclusive of real property addresses, and the use of recycled materials. Through a statewide data sharing agreement. So this is where we have suspected SDA operations that are not actually approved under local law, and help us to actually identify those much more efficiently than we currently can. The second one has been put forward by Kim Rawlings, and that was the revision of Energex dynamic network storage tariffs.

01:42:00 So this one is the LGAQ calls on the state government to direct Energy Queensland to review and revise its dynamic network storage tariff as proposed in its recent tariff structure statement, currently under assessment by the Australian Energy Regulator for the next regulatory control period. So this is about the tariffs that are currently coming in that will make a community battery not viable for the community. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Thank you. Oh, my one was that. Yeah. The one you just mentioned is, I think, a particularly significant suggestion in that what the current proposed before the Australian Energy Regulator for Queensland is at odds with what other states are doing. If we really are serious as local, state, and federal governments to make the transition to a low-carbon economy, the proposed tariff structure on community batteries would reduce

01:43:00 the uptake of community batteries. We're aware in our region there's very little tariff structure on community batteries, and it's a very significant investment in large-scale pumped hydro in highly significant environmental areas in the Mary catchment that's probably 15 years off before we have any benefit from. The investment in that in terms of risk and reward is, in my opinion, far less than a concept of actually providing incentives within the tariff structure for a technology that exists, that allows a distributed network to be able to be used, and it's a very significant investment

01:44:00 I think that's a particularly important one, to get the government to influence the state-owned corporation and hopefully also at the same time the Australian Energy Regulator. And similarly, the STA, I think it was Drucker who said if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. And one of the big significant issues we've got as local government is we're trying to manage the spread of short-term accommodation without access to reliable data. We're finding through our compliance process that the scraping we do of the internet isn't as accurate as we hoped it would be, in fact, finding that as a result of sending out hundreds and hundreds of letters to people we've identified as potentially having short-term accommodation, that some of those are out of date and not accurate at the moment. So this is one where, as Brisbane has gone down the same line as we have in terms of the link between short-term accommodation in the past,

01:45:00 and having a local law, they've joined with us to put this motion up, and I think that adds weight to the argument. Anyone else? Councillor Wegener: I'll speak to it. These are exceptionally brilliant motions, so good luck to the team going down to the conference. Thank you. Yeah, Mia-Mia Wilkie for presenting these. I think that you're the one that presents these. I would actually like to see these in the press. Yes, because they are very, very smart, and I'm hoping that Ken, Ken isn't here right now, but I'm hoping that these are all in the paper somewhere and put out in the media, because I think they're a very good reflection of this council. Councillor Lorentson: Through the Chair, there is another motion that no one's spoken to. Did you want to speak to that, Chair? Motion C, Attachment 3. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Does that mean the one that Council Wilkie put up?

01:46:00 Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. No one's spoken to that one. All the other motions have been spoken to. Mayor Wilkie: I can cover that. Councillor Lorentson: Sure. Mayor Wilkie: That will mean I'm closing. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No, you don't. No. I have a question. Yes. You put up a motion, don't you? Yeah. Could you give me some information on that, please? Certainly. Mayor Wilkie: Look, bearing in mind that all these motions, with this motion that we're debating at the moment, if it's approved, it means all these motions become the motions of the Noosa Council to be forwarded to the LGAQ for consideration. There's motion C is that the LGAQ calls on the State Government to amend the Queensland Electoral Act or relevant legislation to ensure how to vote cards issued at elections by third parties are fact-checked and properly authorised to the LGAQ. Just as how to vote cards are for registered candidates. And this flows from the recent local government elections where we had third parties issuing how to vote cards with preferred candidates with information on the how to vote cards, which didn't have to be fact-checked by the Electoral Commission of Queensland like registered candidates did.

01:47:00 Feedback from a lot of electors was that they found a lot of this information. Misleading and confronting. And if the Electoral Commission of Queensland also required anyone who wished to hand out electoral material within the confines of a booth that they have control over, that they also have a responsibility to ensure that all material there is fact-checked, just as registered candidates do. Hence the term levelling the electoral claim for. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. I think everyone's talked now, so you wish to close? Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. As I said before, what we're agreeing to here today, Councillors, is for all these motions to go to the LGAQ for their policy executive subcommittee, motions subcommittee, to have a look at.

01:48:00 They'll make the decision as to whether or not they proceed to the conference for debate. And perhaps, Councillor Wignall, when we hear back from the LGAQ whether they've been accepted or not, there'll be a good opportunity to do some press. Okay. Thank you. We'll make sure that we all vote for the motions that we are actually taking to the conference, but they are all very good quality motions, I agree. And, yeah, I don't think that anyone's going to vote against this motion, but I'll leave it at that. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. I'll put the vote to those in favour and, Councillor Finzel? Yes. That's unanimous. We're here to move on to the next item of the conference. Which is planning applications decided by Delegated Authority and we have the Manager of Developmental Control, Patrick, would you like to give us a brief overview?

01:49:00 I should note, generally at this point we have a range of conflicts of interest to be declared and councils will note that the reporting format has been changed. So they have, the applicants have been de-identified, but if anyone is aware that they have a conflict, it's still your responsibility to note it. Speaker 4: Okay. Yes, you're correct, Councillor, we have changed the formatting to make it more efficient for our staff. There's been a considerable amount of time preparing the report, so we take the feedback. If you would like to see applicant name moving forward, we could include that. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: For me, I think it's a good idea, as I've said. Okay. Mayor Wilkie: Just a question then, why, it looks like their applicant's names are on there. Councillor Lorentson: They are. Mayor Wilkie: Are they? Councillor Lorentson: They're all there, yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, I must have written the wrong column. Councillor Lorentson: Yes. I'm sorry, you are correct. On page two, page one, two and three. Mayor Wilkie: Most of them are there.

01:50:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: They're all there. The full detail is colon. Ah, okay. I'll have to sit and read the full detail. Mayor Wilkie: But bearing in mind, if you did decide to remove the applicant's names, that's fine too, because these decisions have already been made under Delegated Authority. Yes. And therefore, there's not really conflict of interest. Speaker 4: We can do that? Mayor Wilkie: Yes. We've been declaring out of an abundance of caution. Yes. We don't really need to. Okay. But if you want to remove the names, that's fine. Speaker 4: No, we can certainly do that. It's just a matter of deleting them out of the last . So this is the monthly report that comes to Council, which shows all the decisions that have been made under Delegation. I always say it's a really good reflection of the broad range of work that's coming through the team. Quite a lot of applications this month that were decided. 46 have been very, very busy. So yeah, great effort by the team. Again, as I said, a varied range of applications.

01:51:00 46 approved by the team. One application that was refused, and then four applications that came through Council. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Oh, would someone like to move the recommendation? Mayor Wilkie: I'll move it. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, I think Councillor Wegener won. And Councillor Wilkie second. I'll put it to the vote. All in favour? Councillor Fincils? Yes. That's unanimous. Okay. Our next items, and I'll have to look up here because I've lost connection. Councillor Lorentson: We just opened a connection problem. Councillor is it coming back? Director Rawlings: That issue, you can switch to guest if you are interested. Speaker 7: Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. So the next items we are to discuss is, I'll read the motion. The meeting be closed to the public pursuant to section 254J3E of Liberal Government Regulations 2012 for the purpose of discussing item 7.1, Planning and Environment Court Appeal Number

01:52:00 D23 of 2022, application for reconfiguration. All in favour? All against? Hearing none. Then all those in favour? All against? All against? All against. Any opposition? Any particular objection? All those against? Any opposition? Any objection? Any opposition? Any opposition? Pursuant to section 254J3G of the Local Government Regulation 2012 for the purpose of discussing item 7.2 with those numbers, contract variation for project management services 2022 flood recovery and reconstruction. Pursuant to section 254J3G of the Local Government Regulation 2012 for the purpose of discussing item 7.3 with those numbers, contract variation of flood reconstruction package 7B landslide remedial works Blackpink Road.

01:53:00 And pursuant to section 254J3G of the Local Government Regulation 2012 for the purpose of discussing item 5.2, proposed dedication of TMR owned freehold land as road in Noosaville. I think we need to refer from services and organisation in the motion. That's just the title of the report? Is it? Oh okay. Okay, now it's only going to committee, seconder? Councillor Lorentson: Happy to serve one. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Councillor Laurencson? And I'll take the vote. Those in favour. And Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That's unanimous and we'll just wait for the cameras to be.

01:54:00 Mayor Wilkie: General question, do we know why we're having connection problems? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay, we're right. So, we have three motions, three recommendations here to consider, Council. Would anyone like to move the first recommendation as a motion? Mayor Wilkie: I'll move. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do we have a seconder? Councillor Wilson first up, so it's Councillor Wilkie and Wilson. Do you need to talk to the Mayor, Councillor? Councillor Lorentson: The public haven't seen this, have you already? Mayor Wilkie: Oh, okay, I'll read it. That Council note the report by the Manager of Development Assessment to the General Committee meeting day 15 July 2024 regarding Planning and Environment Court Appeal D23 of 2022 and B, agree to settle the appeal generally in accordance with the proposed conditions outlined in attachment one to the report.

01:55:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do you wish to talk to the Mayor? Mayor Wilkie: No, it needs to be settled. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Anyone else wish to talk to the motion? No? I'll put two to vote. Those in favour? And Councillor Finzel? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, that's unanimous. Thank you. And we'll move to the next motion. Councillor Lorentson: I'm happy to move that Council note the report by the Disaster Reconstruction Coordinator to the General Meeting dated 15 July 2024 and A, approve increasing the value of the QRA funded contract 2122Q125 by $1.7 million GST exclusive from $3.4 million GST excluding to $5.1 million with programs completion expected by 30 June 2025. B, delegate to the CEO the power to negotiate, finalise, execute and administer the contract on behalf of the Council.

01:56:00 And C, delegate to the CEO the power to amend the contract up to 11.5% of the total contract value. And D, delegate to the CEO the power to amend the contract finish date to no later than September 30, 2022. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do we have a seconder? Councillor Phillips? Do you wish to talk to the motion? No. Anyone else wish to talk to the motion? I'll put those to the vote. All in favour? And Councillor Finzel? Yes. That's unanimous. Thank you. We'll move on to the next item. Speaker 3: I'll move it. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do you wish to read that?

6.4 PLANNING APPLICATIONS DECIDED BY DELEGATED AUTHORITY - MAY 2024 ¶

▶ 01:56:41· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:57:00 Mayor Wilkie: From $9,849,609.12 GST Exclusive to $12,445,848.69 GST Exclusive. B. Delegate to the CEO the power to negotiate, finalise, execute and administer the contract on behalf of Council. And C. Delegate to the CEO the power to amend the contract up to 11.5% of the total contract value. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And do I have a seconder? Councillor Wilson, do you wish to talk to the motion? Mayor Wilkie: No, thank you, Mr Chair. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Anyone else? I'll put it to the vote. Those in favour? Councillor Pindell. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That's unanimous. And we may have one more item. Councillor Phillips: I'll move it.

01:58:00 That Council A note the report by the Manager, Infrastructure, Planning, Design and Delivery to the Services and Organisation Committee dated 9th July 2024. B. Support the Department of Transport and Main Roads proposal to dedicate lot 115RP861914 as road and accept the road in Council's capacity as the road manager and C. authorise the Chief Executive Office to execute any title transfer documentation if required on behalf of Council. Mayor Wilkie: I'll second it. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That's seconded by Councillor Wilkie. Thank you. I'll put it to the vote. Did we wish to talk to it? No. I'll put it to the vote. Those in favour?

01:59:00 Yes. And that's unanimous, which brings us to the end of today. Thank you, Councillors, for your diligent attention to your duty and being closed at screen 28. Thank you. Thank you.

7 CONFIDENTIAL SESSION ¶

▶ 01:59:23

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.

7.1 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL NO. D23 of 2022 – APPLICATION FOR RECONFIGURING A LOT– 1 INTO 12 lots AT 111 LAKE WEYBA DRIVE NOOSAVILLE DESCRIBED AT LOT 4 ON RP36729 ¶

▶ 02:03:34· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

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.

7.2 CONFIDENTIAL: NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - 2122Q125 - Contract Variation for Project Management Services - 2022 Flood Recovery and Reconstruction ¶

▶ 02:18:45· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

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.

7.3 CONFIDENTIAL: NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE – CN00317B - Contract Variation for Flood Reconstruction – Package 7B – Landslide Remedial Works (Black Pinch Rd) ¶

▶ 02:33:32· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

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.

5.2 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE: Proposed Dedication of TMR-owned Freehold Land as Road Noosaville (Referred from Services & Organisation Committee dated 9 July - Item 7.1) ¶

▶ 02:38:00· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

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.

8 MEETING CLOSURE ¶

▶ 02:58:54

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.