General Committee - 20 January 2025 Transcript

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY ¶

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00:01:00 So we move on to the first item on the agenda, which is attendance. Well, I did that out of order. Confirmation of minutes. Do we have a seconder? Councillor Wegener. I presume there's no debate. All those in favour? And Councillor Wilson? Yes. Thank you. That carried unanimously. We have no presentations, but we do have a deputation. And the deputation is in regard to sustainable transport, and we will have speakers, Ann Kennedy, Vivian Griffin and Jennifer Clement. And they're from the Zero Emissions Noosa Group. So welcome to the lectern. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. And councillors, for the opportunity to talk to you about what we consider to be a really important issue for the Shire. I think all of you know me. I'd say we haven't met Councillor Phillips yet, but we are going to see her soon for a briefing.

4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES ¶

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

6.1 DEPUTATION - Sustainable Transport Applicant: Jennifer Clement on behalf of Zero Emissions Noosa Speakers: Anne Kennedy, Vivien Griffin and Jennifer Clement ¶

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00:02:00 We have Vivian Griffin with us, who many of you know is a former Noosa and Sunshine Coast councillor and fierce advocate for sustainable transport. And Jenny Clement, who's our chair of our transport working group. Speaker 11: So I'll hand over to Vivian to start. Thanks, Ann, and thank you very much for the opportunity to make this presentation to you today. As you know, ZEN has worked in partnership with Noosa Council on many issues. We're greatly appreciative of that partnership. I'm going to set the scene, just looking at the present and some of the challenges that we see. But ZEN has a reputation for always looking at the positives. It's easy in Noosa to be against. It's much more difficult to be focused on the future and what we are for in the future.

00:03:00 But just in setting the scene with transport policy, your current policy situation, you will be well aware of this, but I'll just recap. You have the transport policy, 10 years, 2017 to 2027. It had eight principles and 15 desired outcomes, and they all identify the right direction. It's inspiring reading for what the council set out to do. The number one desired outcome in that policy is that residents and workers of Noosa Shire are able to go about their everyday business without having to be reliant on private vehicles. Number one desired outcome. The other key policy document, Noosa Cycling and Walking Strategy and Implementation Plan 2020 to 2040. Well, that 2040 has got me worried. So that plan lists 369 projects, very thorough analysis of the walking and cycling needs in Noosa.

00:04:00 118 in the hinterland, and that's Kin Kin, Cooroy, Pomona, Keran, obviously you know where the hinterland is. And 251 on the coast, so a total of 369. Only 38 are identified as low cost or missing wind projects. So the others have been identified as very important. So that cycling plan was not about responding to tourism congestion. It's about responding to Noosa family everyday needs. Clearly needs a major focus to be delivered for benefit for residents across the Shire, not just the tourism hotspots. So that's the policy situation.

00:05:00 And if you have a look at the funding situation, and we think our timing's really good because you've got Shaun Walsh's report coming up after us. So currently you've got the transport levy, $30 per rate payer, raising $939,000 per year. And interestingly, large businesses pay exactly the same as the family in Cooran. That's an interesting point to think about. Go Noosa, as Shaun's report will identify, costs $1.017 million. So more than the transport levy is raising. And currently primarily for the free buses. And great that Shaun has brought that report for consideration by Council. The cycle path annual infrastructure commitment is $1.45 million per year.

00:06:00 What progress has been made so far? Really we have to ask that serious question and ask, can Councillors really say that $1.45 million is going to be enough to deliver those 118 hinterland and 251 coastal pathway projects, even if we're working on what I think is an unacceptable target of 2040? Interestingly again, that Shaun's report talks about the opportunities for e-vibes and e-scooters, and the need for looking at infrastructure to enable safe choices of those lines to be made. So what do we see as the perceived problems? One is the policy document set up great intentions, but we think there's a shortfall in implementation. The transport policy has those fine principles and outcomes, but it's too broad, it doesn't contain measurable outcomes,

00:07:00 and there's no clear action plan. For those reasons, we would say there is a failure of governance, as a lack of measurable outcomes means it's virtually impossible to have meaningful progress reviewed. We think there's too little funding to deliver real change, and arguably Noosa is going backwards in meeting current and future population pressures, both within and from external pressures as well. Limited resources lead to a limited response, and I know the difficulties about recruiting staff as well, so Noosa Council has to look at how it becomes an employer of choice. So the major focus using those limited resources has been on tourism congestion, with very little being delivered for local benefit, or local residents meeting their daily transport needs.

00:08:00 We think the combination of those factors means that Noosa's reputation as a unique and liveable community is at risk for the future. So we've identified four key desired outcomes, Anne is going to speak in detail to those, but we would identify them as development of measurable outcomes, for what are excellent strategies at the moment. Development, once you have measurable outcomes, then you can have development of a review process through your quarterly operational plan review. Development of an additional funding stream, and Anne will speak to that. And importantly, the 10-year vision for Noosa. Yours is that the term of council, that will set that foundation for where Noosa will be in those next 10 years.

00:09:00 So it's a terrific opportunity, and I'll hand back to Anne now to outline the details. Thank you. Thank you Vivian. Speaker 3: Noosa's transport strategy 2017 to 2027 is a great plan and had great foresight. We see some green shoots, like the great Noosa bus, but that was initiated in 2001. The initiatives recently during the holiday period for around Noosa Drive and the Hastings Street intersection had some good results, and it's great to see Stephanie's been appointed as the new Sustainable Transport Officer, so we look forward to working with her. But this is only tinkering around the edges of a sustainable transport policy. As Noosa residents, we think residents are missing out on walking and cycling infrastructure in particular. We pay the levy, but we get very little benefit from the levy. It mainly benefits tourists.

00:10:00 Is that fair? It's now 2025, only two years to go until 2027 when the transport strategy is to be actually implemented. Noosa needs to be bold, like places like Paris, Brussels and other cities and smaller towns that have reduced dependence on cars, increased public transport systems and their use, and encouraged alternative transport. For example, Paris had a vision in 2017 to ban diesel and petrol vehicles, have more e-buses and three times more EV charging stations. So what will Noosa look like in 2032 for our visitors from the Olympics? We want our visitors to have a truly Noosa experience. So we're looking for something like big bog visions, like a 50% reduction in cars in Noosa villages, to be replaced by e-mobility bikes, scooters and people movers.

00:11:00 We're suggesting no cars in Hastings Street, The Spit, Park Road to the National Park, and that people would be moved from these key tourist destinations and where locals like to go as well, in fun people movers on a continuous loop, taking people from those parking modes to Hastings Street, The Spit, the National Park and Noosa Junction. Ironically, this was first suggested in 1993 by some of the people in this room today. Smaller e-buses throughout the Shire would be great, and that's a constant feedback that we get as Zero Emissions Noosa that the community is looking for. An integrated public transport system across all villages in the Noosa Shire, and the incentive for people to reduce their car use by having continuous fun in public transport. So how do you pay for this? We've got two suggestions for additional funding streams. Firstly, paid car parking by non-residents.

00:12:00 So opening Noosa Woods, for example, to paid car parking, just like the Lions Park is today, could be introduced in the 2025 budget. If this was carried out for 10 years, we've estimated there would be multi-million dollars coming in for transport initiatives. After 10 years, it would be returned to the community, because after all, it is community space. Number plate recognition could be used so residents don't have to pay. Should I be very daring and say trial paid parking could be considered for Hastings Street, for example, as part of a trial to perhaps be extended later into other areas? The other revenue source is a differential transition to the transport levy for businesses. Businesses pay, as Vivian has mentioned, the same levy as households. If businesses paid the levy based on the number of employees they have or the number of car parks they have, then that would help to increase the revenue stream.

00:13:00 Incentives for businesses that have solar, electric plug-in hybrids and or e-bike chargers could be put in place to encourage businesses to reduce the levy that they have to pay, as well as all the other benefits that you get from having those mechanisms in place. I'll now hand over to Jenny, who's the chair of our transport working group. She's going to talk about some of the ZEN initiatives that we'll be doing in the first six months of the year. Speaker 4: Thank you. So, hi. I just wanted to build on what Anne and Vivian have said. And as Anne said, I'm going to mention what the ZEN Transport Action Group is working on, which I'm the coordinator of. And through our programs, I'm new to the job and my understanding is we've worked very closely with Council to progress sustainable transport and we want to keep doing that. You're probably aware of some of the projects we've had, particularly in active transport.

00:14:00 So, in the past, we mapped cycling hotspots and that information still exists if the Council would like to access that. And our new exciting project, which we're starting up soon, is an e-bike library where residents will be able to borrow and try before they buy e-bikes. So, we're hoping to promote more active transport that way. And in addition to that, I'm sure you're all aware of the EV Expo that's on annually. And we also have a team within our action group that's researching and advocating for better transport with our EV charger networks within the Shire. So, to work towards, also to help us work towards our thinking on transport and hopefully to also share that with Council, is we plan to hold a series of community consultations over the next six months where we can talk to community members about our vision,

00:15:00 about the priorities in the action plans and hopefully get people's input and enthusiasm and support along the way. So, we're really happy to share any of the information about our project and about those consultations with you. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 3: And just to finalise, we'd like to issue a challenge to our councillors. As Noosa residents, we would like our councillors to continue to show leadership in the sustainable transport place, transport space. We would like them to be future focused and daring, to be innovative, to reach our net zero community emissions target and to be a role model for biospheres about how you can live in a biosphere. Seize opportunities. For example, the 2025-26 budget, which is in the second year of this Council term, is the ideal time to implement the recommendations that we've outlined in our transport paper,

00:16:00 which we sent to you late last week and happy to resend again if it's got lost in your email inbox. The five recommendations we suggest would jumpstart the transport strategy and walking and cycling strategies. We're very happy to continue working collaboratively with Council and we really urge Council to reinstate the transport reference group of a number of years ago because we think that gave really valuable community input into Council's planning and progress on implementing the sustainable transport. So, thank you for your time today and the opportunity to outline these issues and hopefully some possible solutions for your attention. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 5: So, as this is the first meeting, there was no reports referred from the two previous committees because we didn't have them. So, we move on to item one in section eight of reports directed to the general committee

00:17:00 and I'd like to welcome up the members of the Council and our director, Sean, and transport officer, Stephanie, to give us an overview on the COVID-19 interim report. Director Walsh: There's actually a joint report between the three of us and I'm just going to correct with the author. So, and councillors, you've been introduced to Dr Stephanie Bellon previously, our sustainable transport coordinator. So, I'm very familiar with her. So, the report presented to you today is an interim report. Every year, we do present a very comprehensive annual report on the Go Noosa program, including use of buses and success of various trials such as the Hastings Street drop-off zone and the Noosa Headlines Park. This is a report in advance of that because of particular operational deadlines, one of which, the first part of the report, is about that council needs to commit to the extension of the free bus program for next financial year now. So, in light of the fact that the State Government

8.1 GO NOOSA INTERIM REPORT ¶

▶ 00:17:12· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:18:00 has committed to the 50 cent fares for the balance of its term, which is appropriate, it seems unwise to commit to a free bus program when the State Governors are repaying 50 cents or subsidising 50 cent fares. We note that in support of that is that we've had significant uplift in public transport as a result of the 50 cent fares with a 9% uplift on weekends and 22% on weekdays. So, the report recommends in regard to that particular operational aspect that council authorise the CEO to negotiate with TransLink to cease the 50 cent fares. The one exception that we're looking at is the free loop bus service that operates around the park and ride services at the AFL grounds and the J, which operates as an additional service to traditional TransLink services. The next operation or operational issue that we're asking to continue is just to remind council about the, that we're undertaking a review of the council cabs

00:19:00 and PlexiLink services, their specific services that operate in our hinterland. This review was forecast in our report last year and noted that with competing services now provided by community and charitable groups and we also note that TransLink and other localities such as Harvey Bay, Hipswich, Cornwall, Gold Coast and Logan actually operate small on-demand buses for small populations and for some reason Noosa hasn't been considered for that. And there's also an opportunity to consider what subsidies are available for many passengers under ACAT programs and also NDS programs which weren't envisaged when the council cab and PlexiLink service went out. So we'll be able to take an engagement with current users for that program which costs $58,000 a year at the moment. We also note that in the report that we've been trialling some changes in Noosa Drive between Hastings Street and Noosa Parade with the repurposing of some car parking bays to pedestrian areas and relocation of loading bays. And we've received

00:20:00 very favourable feedback over that period over Christmas and we'd like to extend that trial for another three months to actually elicit further formal feedback from all stakeholders to actually make an ongoing decision about whether that makes sense. We note that during the Christmas and New Year period what that area does is it prevents people parking or stopping the laneways while people reverse and sometimes that delay of up to 5 to 10 minutes while they're waiting for people to unload causes significant traffic chaos down Hastings Street and also up the hill into Noosa Drive. So we think there's merit while we've got an active change in the parking arrangements to continue that trial and get really good feedback. The report notes of course that we'll also be undertaking a community information program about these relevant changes. So very much welcome to questions. Speaker 5: Questions of staff if you might. Councillor Lorentson: Hey Stephanie. Hi Shaun. In terms of the 50 cent bus fares, they were introduced in May, June of last year.

00:21:00 Did Council attempt to negotiate their way out of the existing contract and were they able to? Director Walsh: We weren't able to negotiate our way out of the existing contract that the contract is signed. So it was also, you'll remember that that was in the lead up to the state election. So it was uncertain about whether those changes would be ongoing or not. And we also note that the new contract was about to basically kick in for this financial year and we needed to be very careful that we actually had a fleet of buses available to service passenger mobility over the Christmas and contract negotiations. We were waiting for a commitment as the LNP or the new state government could have also withdrawn from that commitment. So we needed to ensure that we had the buses available to actually meet our mobility requirements. Speaker 5: Any questions? Councillor Phillips: Yes, thank you. Hi Shaun.

00:22:00 Good afternoon. Just in relation to the parking chambers at Noosa Drive, can you tell me how we are going to be collecting data to give us the three month trial and what will that look like ? Director Walsh: We haven't put much thought into it as yet. So normally what we would do is similar to a works notice. We would actually do a delivery to each of the affected businesses around there. We'd also work with our community engagement team to post it on Have Your Say and then there's also a lot of benefit in actually walking the street and asking people what they think. So we're really waiting to see what the outcomes of this discussion in council for an appetite for trial to tailor what that program would look like. But it will be fairly low cost and very grounded. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Kinzel. Yes, through the Chair. Thank you for the report. Given what we've just heard from the ZEN group,

00:23:00 is this an opportunity for the Consumer Reference Group for GO Transport to be reinstated? And if so, how do we go about that? Director Walsh: Yeah. So in the event that council supports this resolution to look at ceasing the free bus program in lieu of the 50 cent fares, we'd actually first of all, like to sit down with councillors to actually, because we've already got a number of different desires on the table about loop bus services, one-way traffic arrangements, e-transport. So the first of all is we'd actually like to get a feeling from councillors about where you think resources, that's where staff and funding should be redirected to, and start to prepare a draft action plan. We've actually already had on our agenda that we would actually like to reinstate the Transport Reference Group. It fell away during COVID and as you're aware, we've had significant resourcing issues in our transport and traffic area. So we haven't been able to reinstate it. But we think it was a very valuable reference group prior to COVID. And we think that, you know,

00:24:00 for the next three years until we do a review of our transport strategy. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 5: Absolutely. Mayor Wilkie: Shaun, you mentioned in this report that this is only an interim report, there's going to be a more comprehensive report. Can you talk about the scope of the more comprehensive report? And also, how the, your ideas about how the freed up levy funds, the action plan that might flow from that might talk to this more comprehensive report? Yeah. Or not? Director Walsh: So firstly, the Go Noosa evaluation report, it actually tracks all the passenger numbers on all the different services. So that's the first thing to see, you know, has it been successful? How many people, you know, moved into Hastings Street by public transport? And to see if we've had uplift or decline. So that we know that, you know, whilst we might have 14,000 cars coming into Hastings Street, you know, how many passengers did we have actually

00:25:00 coming on public transport? Mayor Wilkie: And translate to sharing that data. Director Walsh: Yeah. But it takes a while for them to actually gather that data until after Easter. So that's why we are unable to report that data at the moment. The other data that we present in that Go Noosa report is also car parking data. And this year we didn't do the car park tech trial, but certainly we'll be able to give the data of the Noosa headlines part. How many cars actually used the Noosa headlines overflow part. And how much, you know, was the financial arrangements based around that. And then we also give a current running tally of the costs associated with the Go Noosa program. And as referenced in the report, we're currently running a deficit with the, you know, we're raising over 900,000 in levy. But, you know, our costs are now exceeding a million dollars. So, and those balance costs are actually coming from general rate revenue. So, you know, and the other thing we also give data on other more minor programs, like attendance at the Go Noosa school programs, use of the council cabin flexing in service. So, and then we also do a summation of how we think

00:26:00 the traffic arrangements worked around Hastings Street, which is a very congested location. And the success or failure or otherwise of the main beach drop off zone, which we replicated again this year and further improvement. So, it's a very holistic report gathering all the available data that we can to actually help inform our way forward. In terms of priorities moving forward, I think it would be really good timing that if at the same time we evaluated the Go Noosa program comprehensively with the data, we could also use that as a mechanism to actually present a draft action plan of redirection and support education programs and safety. We also have another outstanding motion about one way loop road arrangements around Noosa and they're items that we think are really valuable to consider, but we haven't had the resources to be able to advance those by time and staff as well as funding. I'm also interested in,

00:27:00 I know with our, for instance, our environment levy, we have reserve funds that we use to acquire land and we use that for matching funding for various environmental initiatives. One thing I'd be keen to explore with council is the idea of a reserve for bikeways and parkways because we know a lot of the funding that we get from the state is 50-50% matching funding and without a reserve it makes us less attractive or less able to actually aggressively apply for grants because if we had $1.5 million in reserve for transport projects for bikeways that means we could get a grant from the state government for $1.5 million so suddenly we've ended up at $3 million worth of bikeway so we can advance those things quite further. So, that was just an idea but I just wanted to say that the amount that we're currently using to fund the Go Noosa free bus program is significant and it will allow a significant redeployment of resources and funding into new initiatives to help get people moving in Noosa. Mayor Wilkie: And just a final question, does the TransLink data

00:28:00 on bus patrons give us a breakdown or any indication of what percentage of patrons are locals versus visitors? No, Speaker 2: it's just provide globals. Just numbers? Just numbers. Yeah. In terms of how many patronage or user have user specific services like the 6, 27 and so on. So, the only thing we could track is any increase in patronage. Mayor Wilkie: Right. Thank you. Speaker 2: I have a couple Councillor Lorentson: of questions. In regards to and I'm referencing the deputation made by Zero Emissions Noosa, how do we avoid duplication? They're doing similar works that what we're doing in terms of collating data for paid parking, community sentiment. Do we align our efforts with that of ZEN to avoid situations of duplications? Director Walsh: There's definitely opportunity to work together a lot closer and whilst I can't speak of Council's decision

00:29:00 on how it works with ZEN Noosa. Council does work collaboratively with a number of other community organisations to help achieve its collaborative outcomes. So, that could be open for discussion about how we better partner with and fund various community groups to achieve sustainable outcomes. And if I think some of the community outreach programs like the Go Noosa Schools program and we know are our most congested locations in the use of traffic congestion and I joyfully travel through two of those each day so I experience them daily. And, you know, getting parents to arrange their children to travel to school in another way other than private transport is a very good community education program. And sometimes those community education programs are actually much better delivered by non-profit or purpose organisations

00:30:00 and the like if that makes sense. So, for car parking arrangements. So, there's certainly opportunity to explore that. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. And in terms of trials, similar trials, are we looking at exploring similar trials or putting the same sort of energy and focus in other hotspots, traffic hotspots around the Shire including Peregian Beach, including Pomona, including our Hinterland areas. Is that something that we're considering for the future rather than just Tasting Street? Well, Director Walsh: I look forward to having a workshop with Council to discuss different ideas that we can test. We note that a lot of our working population live in the Hinterland so their mobility is just as important as our coastal areas and that's certainly worth exploring. So, I think it's really an opportunity for further discussion on that. We do need to be cognisant of that one of the reasons we haven't advanced our transport and traffic arrangements as quickly as we would have liked is because of resourcing. We've currently got three vacant

00:31:00 technical roles in our traffic and transport team and that vacancy rate has been running for over two years now. So, how we actually recruit to these roles and retain them and our focus on sustainable transport has been part of that answer that we're not just traditional traffic engineering. So, I just want to be, what I'd like to do is come up with an action list which is grounded and we can actually deliver it with any resources that we're certain that we've got. But at the same time I think we need to focus on a solution which is, one is coastal, one is riverine like, you know, Noosaville, Tewantin and one is hinterland so that we've actually got balance in our actions and our efforts. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. I'd like to move an amendment if possible. Thank you, Vicky. No one's moved. You want to move a motion? Oh, okay. I'll move a motion just with an amendment. Thank you.

00:32:00 Speaker 5: So, Councillor Lorentson: I'd like to add to the recommendation E. Note that Council has committed to reinstate general parking bays on Noosa Drive to offset the loss of car parks from the proposed changes and ensure loading bays are clearly marked and used exclusively for loading purposes. Speaker 5: Do we have a seconder? I'll have a seconder. Councillor Dirichs. Councillor Lobeson. Um, Councillor Lorentson: I, I make a motion to make the addition and I note that Council are already in the process of doing both these actions but I wanted to include it as part of the report to respond to a lot of feedback that has been received during the process. There has been a loss of general car parking and the designated

00:33:00 loading zones have not been used exclusively for loading and speaking to businesses um, delivery drivers have actually recorded probably one of the worst periods of actually loading and unloading. Um, I frequent that area. I think I'm in and out of that precinct minimum two times a day, five o'clock in the morning and maybe late in the afternoon. Um, it's not been used for the purpose designated so clearly marking the bays will make a huge difference for the um, delivery drivers. Um, and I also want to note um, that one of the primaries, primary reasons and I think um, something that needs to be probably a little bit more clearly articulated is the safety um, reasons for the continuation of this trial. Again,

00:34:00 having witnessed myself, I think Councillor Wegener: that's something that's going to be as well. But, yeah. Mayor Wilkie: That's certainly a Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: Just a, yeah, question to staff. Um, what are your comments about the commitment to reinstate general parking bays on Noosa Drive? Whereabouts in Noosa Drive do they have Well, Director Walsh: firstly, there are a number of parking bays that need reinstatement, not just the three that are lost. So, we firstly have um, three bays that are used for emergency vehicles. So, which is all about presenting the right image, particularly in the lead up to New Year's here, to actually moderate, you know, visitors' behaviour that there is, you know, closely monitored. Um, and then the others which are lost

00:35:00 for the purpose of the pedestrian bay, um, we can look at various options to do that. One that springs to mind at the moment is that there's some three 30-minute bays adjacent to the, um, Noosa Heads bus station. Yes. Um, and there's an opportunity to convert those to two hours. So, to actually replace, you know, that length of time period. And then we could look at other opportunities for short-term parking. So, um, we'd have to take it on notice the exact parameters, but I think that's a reasonable request that we could accommodate. Speaker 2: Yes, correct. We've been looking at the, looking at the net loss of the parking due to the relocation of the bay, and we were looking at reinstating Mayor Wilkie: It's very timely given that 50 cent fares look like they're here to stay. There was considerable excitement when 50 cent fares were introduced last year and we were waiting to see whether they were going to be permanent or not.

00:36:00 It was, there's a general sense that there's no sense in continuing with the free bus service if the fares are only 50 cents and you don't need a go card, you just need an FBOS card to tap on and tap off and the potential to free up a lot of the transport levy which is paid, a significant amount is paid by residents, was very exciting and I'm looking forward to having discussions about how we can use that freed up transport levy to advance a lot of the initiatives that we heard about this morning. Councillor Wegener: Good question. So in the last meeting we discussed the, the loop bus which, the free loop bus but it, the issue was 50 cent fares wouldn't work on that because people hop in with a big family and you know each person has to have their own 50 cent card.

00:37:00 Has there been any further development on a way to get the 50 cent for the loop bus? Director Walsh: Firstly the indications are important. We probably have to retain the loop bus which is a supplementary service as a free service so and because 50 cents free is not a good thing. It's not really that much difference and you're right, we couldn't really implement that for multiple passengers. But I will note that we discussed about whether TransLink would allow Council to operate an independent service to its buses and the legal advice indicates that it's not an exclusive node. We can actually work with TransLink to actually provide an alternative service providing we're not competing with their offer. We'd need to negotiate with them and they'd be part of the negotiation terms but that might allow us to actually run a totally different type of bus service. It could be smaller, more mobile, a different energy source, you know to actually more attuned to the Noosa brand. So we look forward to pursuing those discussions with TransLink about what options are available you know as part of a different make-up but that loop service would definitely need to remain free

00:38:00 to be attractive and usable for the users. Speaker 5: Anyone else wish to talk? Okay, careful aren't you? Councillor Lorentson: I'll just close by saying that I'm actually really looking forward for the full report to come back to Council and also for the feedback from this three-month continuation. I believe that we need to consider as part of the feedback the broader community and understand that at five o'clock in the morning we've got our swimmers and our surfers and our runners and our walkers that may be impacted by these changes and changes that we make in that precinct. So that feedback is really critical. And also critical is the feedback that I'm getting quite a lot is there are some excellent solutions out in community.

00:39:00 So the community have clearly stated they want to be actively involved in finding solutions. Like blocking pedestrian access. There's some really great ideas there. So I'd love to be able to capture that and maybe during the three-month trial we can ask that question. You know, this is the problem we're wanting to solve with these changes. Do you think there are better solutions? But I just think involving the community and not necessarily just the business precinct, the broader community. I think we may find some really great ideas floating out there. And just lastly, welcome all. Thank you for coming on board, Stephanie. Really so exciting. I think I came and said hello to you for a lot of times at the start. Councillor Robinson. Councillor Robinson. Speaker 5: I'm closing. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And thanking Stephanie for the report.

00:40:00 Excuse me, Councillor Stockwell. What's not appropriate? Speaker 5: Your close has to be a reply to what has been raised in debate. You're raising a new one now. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. I'm thanking Stephanie. Okay, thank you, Councillor Stockwell. I won't thank Stephanie next time. So in closing, thank you for the report, Stephanie. I'm happy to support the recommendation and the continuation of the trial and negotiations with TransLink. Speaker 5: I'll put the motion. Those in favour? That's unanimous. No. Nicola. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Speaker 13: I'm sorry. Speaker 5: And that is contract number RP0073 for pre-qualified suppliers for provision of parks and landscaping services.

8.2 CONTRACT NO. RP00073 REGISTER OF PRE-QUALIFIED SUPPLIERS FOR PROVISION OF PARKS AND LANDSCAPING SERVICES ¶

▶ 00:41:00· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:41:00 Director Walsh: Okay, I'd like to cast us to introduce Geordie Lascelles, who's our parks and streetscape coordinator, so who's prepared this report with Brian O'Connor and Brian White from procurement. I'll get Geordie to present this matter. Speaker 14: Thank you. Thank you, good afternoon, Councillors. This is in regards to a register of pre-qualified suppliers for parks and landscaping services. In November 2022, approximately three years ago, Council approved a register to be formed. And there was 16 suppliers on the register who were pre-qualified to perform a number of services, including landscape construction, landscape maintenance, landscape management, turf and turf care, irrigation and watering. And those suppliers could be called on at any time to properly come in and do some work for Council under their schedule of rates that's tendered at the time. So the 16 local suppliers have been operating for the last three years.

00:42:00 It was seen at the time that we really wanted to encourage local business to develop and support the development of local businesses and those new businesses that we've already got come to the area. So we wanted to expand our list of suppliers. So we went out to tender later last year, and we had 22 new respondents respond to that. We went through an evaluation, quite a complex evaluation, looking at their financial capabilities, technical capabilities, management, their workforce health and safety, their environmental sustainability and their schedule of rates. And we're recommending a further 16 local suppliers and other suppliers be put onto our list so that current suppliers already on the list didn't have to re-tender. Some did because they had some change of ownership, so they wanted to update their schedule of rates or they wanted to change some of the details that were on the schedule.

00:43:00 But our recommendation is that those 16 essentially remain on the register. And then we add that further 16 onto that pre-qualified supplier register for those services. So the recommendation is that Council note the report and approve the contract RP00073 for the Register of Pre-qualified Suppliers for Parks and Landscaping Services. It will be for an additional 12 months to the 30th of November this year. And after that 12 months, the pre-qualified suppliers will be on the register. It will be up to the Chair of the CDO to extend that for a further 12 months, conditional upon those suppliers being performing effectively. Speaker 5: Do we have questions? Mayor Wilkie: So, Geordie, just to clarify, was there... This is responding to interest in being part of the preferred supplier list from a lot of these contractors?

00:44:00 Yeah, they... Plus also Council was looking at boosting its capabilities. Speaker 14: Yes, essentially both. In the last three years, there has been a number of new suppliers have established in Noosa. And also we just really wanted to expand the capabilities of the current register. So there was a number of services that we felt there was other suppliers in the market that could have performed those services and that we just wanted to give an opportunity for those new businesses that had started up. But it really just enhances our capacity to be able to utilise more services. So, I think it's really important that we are more responsible contractors for various projects and projects that we need. So being on the register doesn't guarantee that they're going to get work, any guaranteed work. It certainly means that if Council needed some work done, they've already submitted all of their insurances, the safety systems, all the things they need to do to get prompt work so we can engage them directly

00:45:00 without having to go through all that every time. Mayor Wilkie: So they're all properly credentialed, but can you talk about what weighting is given to their location, like being local, for example? Speaker 14: Yes, that's certainly one of the criteria that's been evaluated, and the majority of the companies that have been put up are local suppliers, or have a local component to their business. And that was one of the criteria, including workplace health and safety, the capabilities, technical capabilities, and then you have the local component as well. Thank you. Councillor Phillips: Just a couple of questions please. Just at the end you mentioned performance. How do we review performance with the contractors? Speaker 14: It's done on, it depends on the services that we get them to do. If it's a project, they are evaluated through that project, so the project manager will determine the performance for that project.

00:46:00 Sometimes we'll engage them on a regular service, so it might be every month we want you to do X or Y, Z, and that will be evaluated at the end of the period that that happens. So any of the suppliers that might not be prompting the delivery, or there's questions over their work quality, that gets recorded. And then we'll certainly liaise with those businesses throughout that time. But if it's unresolved, then it's something that we can consider that their performance isn't good enough to have them included on the next extension. We haven't had that to date. Councillor Phillips: I'll try and ask this without, this hasn't come from any community or anything, it's just my own background in policing. Let's say we have an area near a school. That one of these contractors may be attending for works.

00:47:00 How do we go through blue card checks and make sure that the relevant contractor has gone through safety checks just to go another level of governance? Speaker 14: Generally the services that are provided under this contract won't be working with children. So blue cards are obviously more around working with children rather than working near children. Yeah. So certainly a lot of these companies will be working in places where children may be. For example in parks, playgrounds, open spaces, public open spaces or near schools. But it doesn't necessarily mean they need the blue card to be undertaking those services. And I wouldn't think that even under those projects that we do and maintenance services that we do, there would really be any need to have interaction with children. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 5: Thank you. Questions? Councillor Larkin? Councillor Lorentson: Will Council be reviewing whether some of these services currently externally sourced, whether there's an opportunity for us to do it in-house through our parks and maintenance guys?

00:48:00 Absolutely. Speaker 14: There's a lot of services that we currently already do in-house with our current staff. And certainly if we've got the staff capacity and capability to do it ourselves, we'll do that. And our staff are doing a great job. They've done a great job doing that already. This is really for a lot of those projects and ongoing work that's really outside of our capacity that the existing staff just wouldn't have the capacity to be able to get to. But also some of the contractors that are on here have specialist equipment that we may not have on hand as well. But in the first instance, we'll be looking to try to utilise our own staff and keep our own staff up to date. For capacity and workload before we utilise contractors and external business.

00:49:00 Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Thank you for the report. I just have a question regarding the expenditure. In the report approximate historical expenditure for this ROPS as follows. I notice it's steadily increased as we go, your report, from 22 to 25. Is that around about the same expenditure? Yes. Do you see another incremental increase as being consistent in the report? Speaker 14: It would be hard to tell. I think that there would be some increases over time just because of the increase in landscape development over time. Developed and contributed areas, new areas that were developed over time within council. We'll potentially increase the utilisation of these consultants and contractors. Director Walsh: Probably to supplement that, we've also had, you know, a few years of quite extraordinary weather and growth. So some of these services are reactive.

00:50:00 You know, where our own staff can't attend to the maintenance of a particular thing. We've got a panel of suppliers who can step in and do work for us. So, and one of the areas that we're really feeling at the moment is arborist services or tree removal services. Because both the rain and the wind events we've had, you know, in recent years have meant we've had significant increase in tree removal. So we're hoping to have, you know, if we had a year of normal weather, I don't know where that is, maybe those costs would come down. And then furthermore to Geordie's comment, if you think of some of the significant areas that we've taken on such as the hinterland adventure playground. You know, so that's a very good example where we've actually, you know, it's a great facility on the part of the community, but it also requires specialist skills to maintain some aspects of that playground. So I think to support Geordie, it's probably a bit of both. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 5: Anyone like to move the motion? I'll do it. I'm happy to move. Thank you. You can take it. I can. This is a fairly standard report dealing with the way we operate and just adds a little

00:51:00 bit more diversity and numbers into what is able to be used by our parks and garden staff to keep our parks and open spaces looking good. So I support it. Mayor Wilkie: I'm happy to support it as well. And especially the element of having more open spaces. You know, we have a lot of locally based businesses involved. It's often been talked about in the community and within these councils. How can we better support local businesses? This is one way. And it's encouraging to see so many new local businesses being established and being given an opportunity through local development. Councillor Wegener: I'll just quickly note that, boy, you know, some of the guys out there do such a good job. I live in Cooroy. And it is just so nicely kept. I'm so impressed with the playground and with the community out there.

00:52:00 I have had some issues in the distant past with the board walking in front of Natanya. Speaker 5: We're debating qualified suppliers not performing well. Councillor Wegener: Anyway, thank you very much for the hard work for the team. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Speaker 5: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Yeah. Can I just add to that too? It's really noticeable when we've had community events. I've really noticed that people have come in and done great jobs. I think that it's really important that our parks and open spaces are kept at that high standard in terms of our health and wellbeing for our community and our visitors to the region. Thank you very much. Speaker 5: I don't need to close. All those in favour? Council Wilson? Yes. That's carried unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. We now move on to Community Grants Policy 5 and Manager Alison Hamblin is coming up to talk to us about what you can do and talk briefly as well.

00:53:00 Speaker 10: Thank you councillors. I'm here today to present the new revised Community Grants Policy. So I'd just like to firstly thank the councillors, the community and staff for helping us to pull this policy together. So it's quite exciting to bring this together today to General Committee. So as you're aware the Community Grants Program is a very competitive program, often oversubscribed. We have just under a million dollars worth. of money in the Community Grants Program. We've been running its current format since 2014. We've received over 800 applications in that period of time. So through the Community Grants Program we've been able to deliver about a million dollars worth of funding to the community. It's really very well, the community really love and embrace this particular program and the staff are doing a great job administering the program. We have a three day a week grants officer doing this administration but the team are supporting her but we've

8.3 COMMUNITY GRANTS POLICY - REVISED ¶

▶ 00:53:10· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:54:00 also actually support community in terms of attracting external grants as well. So when we looked at doing a review of the Community Grants Program, one of the four areas that we really wanted to focus on is the governance side of things, the community effectiveness, the efficient resource allocation, noting the staffing that we have in place to help deliver this program and maximising the funding. So again, making sure that we tap into all those external grants that are out there, not just relying upon council internal grants. So the main changes that we're proposing with the Community Grants Policy is around the grants program changes. So introducing a, combining the signature community events in line with the festive season. So having one particular grant category and also introducing our quick response grants and our individual sports grants as well. And then finally, we're just looking at cleaning up some of our procedural changes. So looking around our governance, making sure we're linking to relevant legislation, and allowing flexibility.

00:55:00 with our policy to implement changes into the future. Speaker 5: Thank you. Do we have any questions? Councillor Finzel: Yes I do. Thank you for the report. I just have a question around, on page three of the report. The review identified some areas for improvement. It found that the Community Grants Program is not fully aligned with the Council's current priorities. due to its reliance on the current priorities. So I'm just wondering if you could elaborate on that. Yes, I do. So I, I think the first thing is that we have a lot of reliance on the outdated social strategy. As everyone knows this is a big focus of mine for this term, to look at how we're going to get this strategy updated, and the question is, what will it take to get our strategy up to speed, so that we've got an officer now sitting in a department that will be making these decisions. My concerns are that with the outdated social strategy.

00:56:00 How will the criteria for the weightings delegated to staff get better informed if we had in front of us a strategy that was current? Speaker 10: Yes, that absolutely comes down to budget considerations. So we'll again, as part of the 25-26 budget, we'll be putting a recommendation that we do revisit the 2015 social strategy. Councillor Finzel: And have you worked out a cost for that? Speaker 10: We looked at it last year, it was around $150,000. We had two options, whether we engage a consultant or actually look at an internal staff member to deliver upon it. Councillor Finzel: Okay, thank you. And do you think if we had a current strategy, how would that have informed this report before us today? Speaker 10: The current strategy would certainly highlight our priorities and it would be well informed by community engagement as well.

00:57:00 So our 2015 was based on community engagement with the current population. So if we're looking at, and obviously our population has changed a lot since 2015 to current population, so we need to ensure that we are engaging with our current population and determining what the priorities are. Councillor Finzel: Fantastic. So preparing and heading forward a new community strategy will help us get better engaged with our community and current information about how the community feels now around social issues. Yes, absolutely. So would you consider that a priority? Absolutely. Speaker 5: Councillor, we're dealing with the grants. Councillor Finzel: Yes, I'm just, I've made very clear. Speaker 5: In short, Councillor Finzel, your question was if we had a more up-to-date strategy, that community grants could be focused on those priorities. Councillor Finzel: That is correct. Speaker 5: Yes, thanks. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 5: Do we have other questions?

00:58:00 Councillor Lorentson: Ally, you've identified as a risk that the amendment, amended policy, it's not well communicated. There's concern that community groups may disengage. So my question is have we actually run past the revised changes with community groups and what's their feedback been? Speaker 10: Yes, as part of the review of the community grants program, we engage community and our not-for-profit sector in particular, so the changes that they put forward to us was considering one grant round per year and those quick response grants. However, as you know, our not-for-profit sector changes every AGM and so we just need to ensure that we are continually communicating with our not-for-profit sector and community and making sure they're aware of that change. So we have gone from two grant rounds per year for our community projects and now looking at going one grant round per year. However, this policy allows that flexibility. So if it doesn't work, we see that there's absolutely a need to do two rounds per year

00:59:00 or more or less, we can have that flexibility. Councillor Lorentson: So that's my next question. So when will it be reviewed? At the end of 12 months or we'll give it a year or two year trial? Speaker 10: So the policy itself would be reviewed every four years. But in terms of our guidelines, because we actually don't stipulate in our policy now, whether it be one round, two rounds, three rounds, four rounds per year, it allows that flexibility, but our guidelines can change each year. Councillor Lorentson: Correct. Speaker 10: Thank you. Speaker 5: There's no first question. Councillor Finzel: I'm happy to move. Speaker 5: Moved by Councillor Finzel, seconded by Councillor Locke. Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Yes. I think as always, our community benefits greatly from these grants and moving forward, I think it's great in alignment also with the round we have these opportunities that community can reach in and the process expedited to meet emerging needs. It's really good to see that we're heading towards a future that is responding to our

01:00:00 community and that we're trying to remain current and keep things really flexible and providing opportunities for people to participate. And I guess minimise that whole red tape of slowdowns to keep our community really engaged and moving forward on the things that they'd like to see. I thank staff for doing a great job considering the deficiencies around the social strategy. So I think working together with the community and our staff and council to support these changes, I think the grants policy, the revised version is going to really project us forward to a future that is more sustainable. So thank you. Thank you. Councillor Phillips: I'm just going to speak really quickly and say, Ali, thank you. My most favourite thing in the report is to, and I'm not sure who out of the team came up with this, but the review focused on several key areas and my favourite being community effectiveness and efficiency because those two I believe are critical.

01:01:00 So thank you for the detailed report. I'm really happy to support it. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Absolutely. Yeah, congratulations on the report. Thank you. The work that's gone into revising this policy, it was overdue. It was due, I should say. And I'm particularly appreciative, and I know other councillors are, of the introduction of the individual sports grants awards because many of us have had requests over the years from parents usually saying that their child is representing Noosa at a state level or at a national level, at the state at a national level, or even internationally. And is there any support available through council grants? And this is responding directly to that. And you've modelled that grant on what is happening in other councils, so it's well researched and I'm sure to be well received. So thank you.

01:02:00 Councillor Lorentson: I'd just like to add the importance, how important these community grants are to our community groups. I think we're all, we're all part of a community. We're all part of many, many community groups, all councillors. So we see firsthand the importance of the grants and how critical they are to delivering meaningful initiatives that benefit the whole community and also fill in the gaps where council can't do the job. It's the community groups that can do the jobs. And what it does is it talks to us as councillors by telling us what's really important. And what's the community value. So thank you, Allie and team. And it's really rewarding as a councillor. And I know I speak on behalf of all the councillors. It's really rewarding for us to support yourself and the community groups in delivering these grants. Thank you.

01:03:00 Speaker 5: Anyone else wish to speak? Councillor Finzel, would you like to? Councillor Finzel: No, thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it's been well articulated. Speaker 5: I'll put the motion. All those in favour? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Speaker 5: That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. We now move on to a report on procurement assessment working team contracts awards under CEO delegation. You're most welcome. Thank you. Speaker 15: Afternoon Councillors. A quick synopsis. The report for noting presented here today is a disclosure of all large-sized contract awards occurring under CEO delegation for the six months ended 31st December.

8.4 PROCUREMENT ASSESSMENT WORKING TEAM - CONTRACT AWARDS UNDER CEO DELEGATION ¶

▶ 01:03:41· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:04:00 This disclosure follows a recent revision to our procurement policy, which we adopted as part of the budget in June 2024. This inclusion was part of a range of enhancements to procurement policy that improved our governance, oversight and controls regarding our procurement processes, as well as balancing that with ensuring effective and streamlined processes. So given that was adopted six months ago, this is the first time you've seen this report presented through to Council. As noted in the report, as part of these changes, Council over the last few years has established an additional layer of independent probity or review of any large-sized contracts. We call this the Procurement Awards Contracts Team, or PCOR, as an acronym for short, because we do like an acronym in local government. This independent team comprises the Director of Corporate Services, Procurement Manager,

01:05:00 and the Executive Officer Internal Audit and Corporate Performance. Now on request, it independently reviews all contract awards that are under the CEO delegation between the large-sized contract threshold of $200,000 and up to the delegation level of $1 million. And that independent review occurs before any contracts are finalised and authorised by the CEO. I guess just to note, this specifically excludes any procurement awards that are direct to Council. So it's about that additional layer for officer-awarded contracts. As noted in the report, only nine contract awards followed this process over the last six months with a value of $4.1 million. The full detail of these are included in attachment one to the report. And just before I close, just to note a typo in the report on page 34 of the full agenda, section four. The amount stated there should read $200,000 or more excluding GST.

01:06:00 I think we've added an extra zero in there, and it certainly is not $2 million or more. Apologies if the correction noted. Any questions, councillors? Speaker 5: Okay, go on. In the attachment, we have nearly $1 million in workers' compensation insurance. I take it that's an annual payment? Is that paid lump sum, or is that an accrual over the year that we're acknowledging in the report? Speaker 15: I would have to take on notice whether we pay that invoice periodically or... Speaker 8: Sorry, councillor. It's an annual invoice that's paid annually. Speaker 5: Thank you. Other questions? Councillor Lauritsen? Councillor Lorentson: Trent, do other councils have a procurement working assessment team, or is this unique to our council? Through the Chair. Speaker 15: Through the Chair, and I'm sure Scott will also clarify if he needs to about different councils. Different councils will operate differently in terms of award.

01:07:00 Some councils will obviously not include or follow what we used to do previously, which would follow the delegation process only. It would either come straight through from the evaluation panel to either the CEO or the delegated authority on the financial delegation, or it would come through to council. So other councils... Some councils will have a dedicated procurement panel, similar to the way we have, for example, a capital works executive, and that would be dedicated to reviewing those procurements through that award rather than through a council committee meeting process. So I guess to some extent we've met a middle ground recognising the importance of making sure that large size contracts and tenders come through council approval, if they've gone through a formal tender. And any of those expedited contracts or those that may have followed a panel arrangement are coming through for a disclosure process for you as well.

01:08:00 So it is an additional aid that you won't see in most councils having that additional step. Councillor Lorentson: So my next two questions is, does the Director of Corporate Services, the Executive Officer of Internal Audit and the Corporate Performance staff, have they sufficient time to dedicate to this project? And is participation in this team explicitly included in their job description? Speaker 15: Is it specifically included in the job description? No. But given these are senior officers, as such, we are committed to a range of panels and review processes. Notwithstanding, as you know, with this role as Director of Corporate Services, that includes Capital Works Executive, the Executive Leadership Team. So we're committed to a range of panels and review processes. Capital Order and Risk Committee is a participating member. So there's a range of committees that it's expected that an executive could sit on as part of that process.

01:09:00 I'd probably just also clarify that where there are any availability or conflict issues associated with the procurement occurring at the time, those members will step out and will find an alternative to step in to ensure that that process continues to remain in place. In terms of workload, each of those procurement reviews is not significant. It doesn't have critical impact on workflow for the participating members. As you can see in the report, there's only been nine that have come through this year, so far, year to date. For some areas of the organisation who are regularly involved in procurement, for example, you'll see with our procurement, the evaluation criteria includes things like local economy, workplace health and safety, and environment. The officers involved in that are involved in each and every procurement that needs evaluations. Some of those officers can be working on an evaluation panel on a weekly basis all year round.

01:10:00 So it isn't a significant cost for us. Councillor Lorentson: So before this team was established, what property processes were in place? Or was that solely the role of the CEO? I'm just trying to understand. I love this level of probity. But what existed before this? Speaker 6: Prior to the establishment of the team, which was originally back in 2017-18, the bulk of tenders would come through to Council. So the team was really established primarily to expedite those contract awards, where it may not fall into the Council meeting cycle. So that might be around, whether it's pricing validity, needing to order goods, or it could be an urgent project as well. Speaker 15: Thank you. In addition to that, this doesn't recognise the baseline level of probity that occurs

01:11:00 as the procurement is occurring with the evaluation panel. So that process occurring by the officer that's undertaking the procurement, for example, it could be the work cover example, or there's a number of others in that attachment. The officers are still under probity. They're recognising their role on the panel. They're committing to their independence through that process. And the independent review that occurs by procurement through that entire process still continues. This is an added over and above layer for any of those large size contracts that are being fast tracked or expedited due to time pressures. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Just a little observation. For the most part, the panel members are the Director of Corporate Services, the CEO, and Procurement Manager, which is probably Scott. Is this a question? Yeah, with other people that will fill in as well to that,

01:12:00 and more on the panel than just the three of you, for the most part. Speaker 15: Through the Chair, there has been a couple of instances where I've been on leave or Scott's been on leave, or there's been instances where there has been a perceived conflict, if it's been through a supplier that may have involvement to, say, for example, a former employer or consultancy firm, where we have stepped out of the equation. And in those instances, we've had a governance manager or another executive officer stand into the process. I think we've had two instances where that's occurred. So we have built up backfill capability to be part of the team and do the independent review, and we're finding that's quite effective. Speaker 5: Wilkie, did you have a question? Mayor Wilkie: Yes. You mentioned in the report that the reporting requirements is that the contracts worth $200,000 or more

01:13:00 are published on Council's website after they're awarded. And to provide additional disclosure, you also report to Council on a bi-annual basis. This is part of that? Councillor Lorentson: Correct. Mayor Wilkie: And the reporting around this has to be squeaky clean because it can be challenged, this contract. Has any ever been challenged? Speaker 15: Through the Chair, the report for noting here, all of these ones here in this attachment have already been executed. So in a similar way to you have another report on the agenda today about development approvals under delegation for those smaller size and scale DA applications. This is in the same vein. What we're providing here is to make sure that there is complete transparency and disclosure of any large size contracts that have not come through to Council for final endorsement. Mayor Wilkie: I probably need to rephrase the question. There's a lot of probity in process and reporting around the awarding of these contracts.

01:14:00 Have any of these contracts ever been challenged? Speaker 15: Through the Chair, we have had a couple of instances as we review these contracts and as our role as an independent process is to query and seek clarification where an evaluation panel may have had a preferred contractor as a result of the scoring. And our work is obviously to look at that multi-party evaluation and their assessment of price versus quality, scope, method, et cetera. And we have had a few occasions where we've sought clarification and resolved that. So in that instance it's shown that it is effective because it helps clarify and ensure that even that independent view ensures that it is very cleanly aligned with the regs. Mayor Wilkie: And did I hear correctly in saying this team has been doing this work since 2017, established in 2017?

01:15:00 Speaker 15: Through the Chair, correct. Originally, it was restricted to those few and far between instances where there was an expedited timeline requirement between Council meeting and special meeting agendas. And then we traditionally would only have a couple of those a year. But as we've broadened some of the definition of the procurement policy, we've captured all of those instances. So you're now seeing this come through as a more robust report. Thank you. Councillor Phillips: I have a question, Trent. Unless you're watching or reading minutes, how would this process be communicated to the general public? Speaker 15: Through the Chair. So each of these, as they're awarded, a bit like the ones, obviously, if it comes through Council, it would come through the Council meetings. But regardless, it would still end up on our website for the large-sized contracts. So for these ones, the CEO has authorised these ones under his delegation and we are still publishing them on Council's websites. We're still being clear. This is just about that additional

01:16:00 step to ensure that there is a noting of all of those coming through the table here today. And obviously, like all our procurement processes, all submitters to the process, whether they are through a tender or through a tender or a quotation process, are advised to the APCOV in terms of whether they're successful or not as well. Speaker 6: And just in addition, we've included the role of the team in Council's procurement policy, which is available on our public website. Thanks. Speaker 5: Thank you. Ms Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Yeah, just a question giving where the conversation's heading today with the question around procurement panel. A question through the Chair then to the CEO. Do you consider that there is, when we look at continuous improvement and risk, do you feel we have enough checks and balances and a robust process, you know, to give us

01:17:00 confidence that we're not leaving ourselves open to any type of risk? Speaker 5: Mr CEO. Speaker 13: Through the Chair. You can never say never, but this is certainly a higher level of risk mitigation than I've been involved in with other councils in terms of having this mixed layer. It's certainly a comfort for me as a CEO, so that when it does come through, it's come through from the experts. So it's not just grab a panel off the street and do the checks of the tenders. They're experts in their own rights. They provide a very comprehensive report, which then gets checked by this group, which then comes up to me and I check it as well. So it's a very robust process and I think it's a very useful process in that it helps us to keep the business running, as Scott said. We use it a lot. It's 200,000 to 1 million, but it's also very useful for us in order to be able to award tenders and keep business running

01:18:00 because, again, every month makes a hell of a difference in delivery, but also a hell of a difference in workloads of the actual suppliers. So it's just really important that we're able to use this to keep the business going, but we also put these really stringent checks in place to make sure that we're not just rushing it. We're doing everything we possibly can to be as risk-averse as possible. So I'm very comfortable. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. I'm happy to move the recommendation. Speaker 5: Will Councillor Lodgeson do the opposite? Councillor... Oh, I think you've got to stand up. Councillor Wegener? Councillor Lodgeson? Councillor Lorentson: Just briefly, I, as a councillor, really appreciate and highly support the added layer of probity and oversight that this initiative, or this team, brings to our procurement processes. It reflects our commitment to, as Larry said, to reducing risk and ensuring transparency in how we operate. So as a councillor, it makes me feel comfortable

01:19:00 in the decisions we're making, and as the chair of the Capital Works executive, again, it gives me a layer of security and confidence, so thank you. Councillor Wegener: Councillor Wegener? In the Audit and Risk Committee, we often talk about how many hats everybody wears, and this seems to be a new hat for you guys, but on the other hand, I think it's really important because it's a good hat, because there's a balance between nimbleness and being able to act quickly versus having structure for decisions, and this seems like a really good balance between those two, being able to act quickly but still having structure in decisions and oversight. So thank you. Speaker 5: Other people wish to talk? Councillor Lorentson? I'll put the vote. Those in favour? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Speaker 5: That's unanimous. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you. And Trent, are you staying around

01:20:00 for the next item? Speaker 15: I am, my man, so I'll get comfortable. Speaker 5: And joined by the Manager of Finance, Paul Green, for the Financial Performance Report for December 2014. Speaker 8: Good afternoon, councillors. Good afternoon. So we are halfway through the financial year, and overall financial performance year to date, to December, continues to be positive, with operating revenues outperforming our forecast. However, this upside is offsetting an overspend in our expenditure line at this stage of the year. Councillors should note that the December report is reflective of Budget Review 1 and does not incorporate any proposed changes outlined in Budget Review 2 that will be addressed later in this meeting. Operating revenue is $3 million above budget, and this is being driven by $1.5 million in interest revenue, $684,000 from sales of goods and services, $780,000 from grant programs, and $225,000

8.5 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT – DEC 2024 ¶

▶ 01:20:18· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:21:00 from other revenue sources. This has been offset, however, by lower than forecast rates and levies and fees and charges revenue. Operating expenditure is $463,000 over budget, with employees' costs marginally under budget year to date due to being offset by our vacancy dividend that was adopted as part of the budget process. Materials and services are $644,000 over budget at this point in the year, with some of that relating to timing of delivery works, with the largest component relating to civil operations. Overall, Council's year to date operating position at December 2024 is $2.6 million above budget, which will be utilised to fund emergent expenditure and offset the forecast deficit that was adopted at Budget Review 1. Capital revenue is $5 million above budget for the QRA Disaster Funded Program and some other state and federal

01:22:00 funded grant programs. Capital expenditure is behind budget, $25.8 million year to date, with $15.6 million relating to the QRA Disaster Program and $10.1 million relating to Council's base capital budget. Council is currently holding $94.4 million in cash reserves, with $30.5 million invested in the QRA. Council's financial performance remains on track, subject to any emergent issues that might arise between now and the end of the financial year. Speaker 5: Thank you. Questions? Councillor Wegener: Just a quick question. I asked Polly in an email about the vacancy savings and she gave me a very comprehensive response, so thank you. But again, I look at the vacancy savings and we had some tension at the meeting, just we're questioning should we be putting that towards

01:23:00 other savings versus kind of subsidising our general rates and Speaker 11: is that right? Councillor Wegener: Is that accurate? So, Speaker 8: in terms of how we developed our 2025 budget, there was an element of vacancy dividend that we took up. That helped to deliver some modernisation and ICT projects that the Council was looking to implement to try and help the staff and help that efficiency. The other part was also funding part general rate funded expenditure. It's not something that we do lightly. We do have a turnover within the organisation and it does at times generate that saving, so we took the opportunity to take that up. It is obviously something that we would assess each year, whether that's actually a viable option depending on what vacancies Council has at any given point in time. Particularly through the COVID in the last few years we have had some significant turnover which is why that was adopted last year. Councillor Wegener: Yes, but what I'm looking for is just is a way to find further savings,

01:24:00 you know, and that seems Speaker 5: a good one. Through Speaker 15: the Chair, another way of looking at it is if you look at our income, statement of income expenditure, our employee benefits budget is $52.6 million. Our full cost of salaries if we had no vacancies during the year and if everyone was working and we had a full capacity of organisation, our full budget is $53.6 million. So in budgeting we've reduced a million dollars of our salary budget so we do not have a budget to fund all of the staff for a full year and we have utilised that elsewhere. If we set that cash aside we would be running it, we would then be running the deficit because we've utilised that cash elsewhere. So that's how we've also balanced the budget as well. We've taken those savings and used

01:25:00 the $2,500 projects in the organisation without putting the rates up. There isn't a cash available today. Mayor Wilkie: Thanks Pauline. You mentioned there was an overspend in materials and services, is that correct? Speaker 8: Correct, yes. Mayor Wilkie: My question is are we budgeting accurately Speaker 8: up in timing of projects that come through? With respect to civil ops, a lot of that was around arborist services and parks and gardens and we're working with them to understand what's driving that, whether it's a timing issue, trying to get the work done before the wet season comes, whether capital costs may have been captured in operational costs. So we are looking at that and reviewing it. We obviously have other areas of council that are behind in delivering some of those projects but we will be spending more time on looking at that so we can get better clarification around it. We did actually cut back some

01:26:00 of the civil ops budget as part of the budget process after discussions with the area but obviously with now full contingent some movements those new people are getting their head around those budgets and setting some service level expectations. Mayor Wilkie: The price and materials that council uses are they, are we budgeting appropriately for them? Speaker 8: So when we develop the budget we do buy an allocation to increase the cost of goods and services. We can only predict what that will look like and whether that's reflective in the actual contracts. We don't know until those contracts come in. We did see increases in cleaning particularly ones with labour components that they were generally higher than what we had originally forecast but on other ones like waste they were lower than what we had intended so it depends on the type nature and the negotiation of the contract. Mayor Wilkie: So given that trend of the half year do we need to reassess our estimates for materials and services? Speaker 8: At this stage

01:27:00 we don't have I think sufficient view. We will do further investigations and review that at an additional budget review later in the year but up until the point that we have prepared this budget review we were actually tracking behind budget so it's only been over the Christmas period that this has kind of bumped up and become more obvious. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Just on that line coming out of the plants and gardens and that increase that's coming up they talked about disaster management and weather events around that impacting that. How are we overall I guess in the budget I don't know trying to look at that disaster management and resilience in terms of do we have a contingency for that or are we sort of estimating a percentage of increase across the board around response to weather events and disaster management? Mayor Wilkie: We have a contingency for that. Yeah. Speaker 8: So in terms of when we set the budget do we allocate an amount specifically to manage

01:28:00 potential disasters within the operational budget? No, not specifically. That would be dependent on the business areas and they understand their areas better Councillor Finzel: and what happens Speaker 8: at different times when we've got rain and when we don't. We do have a natural disaster emergency reserve that should we get a natural disaster and we need to act quickly we can fund it from that. That would obviously need to be topped back up in future years but that is available. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Question is, are we considering adjusting the budgets or is this misalignment deliberate to help build cash reserves? Speaker 8: Correct. So when we set the base budget originally, we will budget conservatively so that during the year if there are emergent issues that we can have the capacity to absorb those without additional rate increases.

01:29:00 Or if there's an additional surplus at the end of that, I suppose those over that surplus funds would actually go into cash reserves for future use whether that's on new projects or co-contributions or grant programs, those sorts of things. So we do conservatively budget. I would like you to note that with the holiday parts, there comes a cost that is associated with that. So while their revenue is up, their contract services is also up and there is an adjustment in budget review too that actually reflects that. So just because the revenue is up doesn't mean that it's not got a corresponding expense element to that as well. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask you that question backwards? Sure. So if we were to adjust the budgets, what would be the potential implications? Speaker 8: So you... Ed? Well, it depends on market conditions. So let's take holiday parks for example. So if we were to push their budgets and their revenue targets and there was... We saw a decline in the budget.

01:30:00 We saw a decline in the market or there was bad weather, any of those or another pandemic potentially that we may not be able to achieve those revenue targets and therefore that... Because they contribute a profit margin to our base budget. If we didn't achieve that, then we would actually result in a deficit position to Council if we were not able to meet those targets if we pushed them too hard. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Anyone like to move to motion? I have another question. Yes, go on. Thank you. Unity Water Dividends. What's the actual cash dividend that we receive from Unity Water? Speaker 8: So it will fluctuate depending on the year. So there's different components from the distributions that we get from Unity Water. Last year I think off the top of my head was about $2.3 million in cash dividend. Our equity share of profit that we recognise in our annual reports is a lot higher than that. But is a representative of our share of the total profit that Unity Water has. So is that separate to the dividend?

01:31:00 Councillor Lorentson: So equity share? Speaker 8: Essentially so, I'm trying to put it in simple terms. So if you were running a business and you made a profit of $100,000 but you only paid a dividend of $50, we would get $50 but we would recognise the $100 in our accounts at the end of the year. So there is a disparity. That's not to say that in future years we wouldn't get increased distributions from Unity Water. But under the current arrangement we get essentially a fixed amount that we get each year. Councillor Lorentson: But the increase to align with Unity Water profits is reflected in our equity share? Speaker 8: In our annual report, correct. They are not represented in our management reports that come to Council each month. They are purely only represented in our annual report once a year. Councillor Lorentson: I appreciate the explanation. Thank you. My last question. What keeps you up at night? You say this in light of the LA fires, the terrorist attacks in January, but seriously Pauline, what are the what if scenarios that are going through your head?

01:32:00 Speaker 8: Lots of things go through my head at the moment. Probably just resourcing and being able to make sure we are across everything and being able to provide the level of service that we would like to provide in the financial team. And just yeah. There's lots of moving parts across Council at the moment. And making sure everyone is up to speed. Thank you very much. Speaker 5: Anyone like to move the recommendation? Councillor Lorentson? Seconder? Councillor Phillips? Councillor Burns? Councillor Lorentson: Just again acknowledgement and gratitude to the people that we have in charge of our finances. I think we're in good hands. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Other questions? Yeah. Thank you for the comprehensive reports every month and you're very responsive if councillors want additional graphics to help us understand what's actually going on.

01:33:00 You're more than willing to provide them. So thanks again for the extensive and clear report. It's very helpful. Speaker 5: Anyone else? Councillor Robertson? No. Okay. I put the motion. Those in favour? No. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Speaker 5: That's unanimous. We have been going for an hour and a half. Are we happy to have a five minute break? Yes. Yes. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you very much and we'll be back.

01:43:00 Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 5: It's on in this section and it is budget review two for the 2024-25 financial year and we hope to save the two for the first year to be served. Speaker 8: Councillors, under the Local Government Act, Council is required to undertake regular reviews of our adopted budget to ensure it remains reflective of planned activities to be funded throughout financial year. This is the second budget review for the 2024-25 financial year and incorporates any new or emergent issues or actions that arise from our operations or from Council resolutions. As Councillors are aware, the proposed budget review submissions have been subject to workshops with both the executive leadership team and Councillors. In summary, the budget review process proposes a net improvement of $278,000 to Council's operating position,

8.6 BUDGET REVIEW 2 (BR2) FOR THE 2024/25 FINANCIAL YEAR ¶

▶ 01:43:21· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:44:00 with the current operating deficit of $140,000. Improving to $138,000 surplus. This result includes a range of emergent costs that have been funded through additional interest revenue and grants received or forecast to be received. Budget review two includes several operating submissions for new and extended positions, as well as the permanent conversions of several temporary positions. These requests have increased Council's permanent establishment by four FTE, bringing the total establishment to 449.21 FTE, with one additional temporary position also requested. This budget review also includes proposed fees for the Noosa holiday parks for the period 27 January 2026 to 12 July 2026. Council adopts fees and charges for these parks in advance to allow for forward booking of sites up to 18 months in advance.

01:45:00 Following the endorsement by Council of amendment number two to the Noosa 2020 plan, a fee for different applications has also been requested when considering whether an application should be assessed under the superseded planning scheme. Council's base capital works program has decreased from $53.8 million down to $46 million, with $2.5 million in emergent works and project variations being recognised. This has been offset by $8.5 million in multi-year projects rescheduled out to the 25-26 financial year, and identified project savings of $1.6 million. The Cooroy disaster funder projects is sitting at $78.1 million, which makes the total capital program $124.9 million. Capital revenue has decreased $2.5 million, and this is due largely to the rescheduling of future projects which may have had grant funding attached to them. All financial sustainability ratios are forecast to be met,

01:46:00 and overall this budget review continues to show Council in a positive financial position, obviously subject to any emergent or future issues that may arise between now and the end of the financial year. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Council, do you have any questions? Thanks very much. Councillor Wegener: EM, disaster funding of $74 million in the bank now. Any prospect of how soon that's going to be used by Black Mountain Road and all that? Speaker 8: So in terms of, are you referring to cash holdings or? Yeah. Okay, so we currently are not holding $74 million, just to clarify, relating to Cooroy funder projects. Yeah. The amount that we may hold at any point in time is significantly reduced because we're now on a month-to-month schedule, so we're actually doing the works and then being reimbursed on a monthly basis from the Cooroy disaster program. Okay. We are holding some funds in terms of carryovers from previous years that are still in progress and being delivered, but that's not a Cooroy funded program. Okay.

01:47:00 Speaker 5: Any other questions? Councillor Lodge? Councillor Lorentson: In terms of the new staff positions, how many are funded through levies, and what are the specific reasons for this funding structure? Speaker 8: So we have many, we have multiple different levies across Council. The heritage levy is the one that's proposed to increase the funding of a FTE. So it's originally was fundable, historically has been funding 0.26 of an FTE. Under this proposal, it will be funding 0.51 of an FTE. So that position would sit within the library. So historically that's been a heritage coordinator. That position has now been redesigned and will sit between both strategic planning and libraries so that it better reflects the functions that need, are needed across Council. We also do currently fund positions through the environment levy and some of the sustainable transport levy as well. So the heritage leverage, which is the one that's affected in Budget Review 2,

01:48:00 is probably on the lower side in terms of what's funding our positions at this stage. Councillor Lorentson: Where would we find that level of detail? It's not sort of submitted as part of our financial report. Do our annual reports, break down where levy money is being spent? Speaker 8: It wouldn't show you necessarily the detail that you're referring to. I don't believe it's currently published anywhere publicly. But it was provided to Councillors throughout the budget development process. So it was in the information packs that were provided to you. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: I have a particular question. Thank you, Mr Chair. A particular question in the, just for the people who may be listening. The financial report we saw for the six months showed that we were tracking $2.6 million above budget. This Budget Review 2 has shown a $278,000 turnaround

01:49:00 taken from a projected $140,000 deficit to $138,000 surplus. Can you just give us some idea how those two reports talk to each other? Correct. Speaker 8: Okay, sure. So what we haven't done in Budget Review 2 is taken all of the upside year to date in terms of the interest, particularly the interest revenue, purely on the basis that we have still half a year left. And we also have some emergent issues and renegotiations with certified agreement and we don't know the outcomes of those. We will be doing a Budget Review 3 where depending where in that stage of negotiation we will take up the additional revenue in that slide. So there is a timing issue. It's coming for the remainder of the financial year, which will need to be funded. Mayor Wilkie: So when it comes around to Budget Review 3, April? Speaker 8: It would go to April round it. Mayor Wilkie: Assuming some of that funding is taken up, that would again improve the projected volume on it.

01:50:00 Speaker 8: Correct. Yes. And depending on the final result for the financial year, any surplus obviously would go into our cash reserves. Obviously we don't like to forecast for a deficit and hopefully that might be the outcome. Correct. We don't always do a Budget Review. It's really on a needs basis and depending on the issues that are faced in Council reviews are not required for capital programs. Mayor Wilkie: And why do you have the sense that we may need one this year? Speaker 8: Because we are currently in negotiations with the Certified Agreement, which is about to be ending. So we will more than likely have one in April. Mayor Wilkie: Okay, thank you. Councillor Lorentson: In terms of the Certified Agreements, Pauline, what stage are we up to with those and what are the anticipated impacts given we know they were quite significant a couple of years ago? Speaker 8: Obviously, do you want to respond? Speaker 13: We are in negotiations with the unions right now.

01:51:00 We have a further meeting next week where we will have some counter offers happening. So until we really have a thoughtful idea of that, Speaker 14: then we will bring that back to Council. Okay. Speaker 13: If that's okay. Speaker 14: But we are still in negotiations. Okay. Speaker 13: But it's safe to say that it will have an effect on the budget. There's no question with the cost of living and the need to support our staff. And that's something that we are very very conscious of and it's coming back the other way as well. So we need to strike that balance. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Speaker 5: Have you moved? Moved by Councillor Wilkie. You've seconded it? No, I'll second it. Councillor Wilkie. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah, thank you very much, Trenet and Pauline, for the Budget Review 2. As you said, it's Budget reviews, the opportunity for local governments to adjust and amend their budgets

01:52:00 to accommodate emerging costs. You've done that in this one. Also, also adopt the proposed General Costs For our holiday parks for the year, starting in January 2026, I note the increase in staff and that's especially the community engagement officer, which is significant because we've had discussions about being more effectively able to engage with our community. We do have a well-publicised program of community engagement coming up and there is a strong sense that we'd like to do panels a lot more in-house rather than rely on external consultants. It is a temporary position and we'll see how that goes in the fullness of time. As has been mentioned, we have a certified agreement coming up which is going to have implications for the budget.

01:53:00 I'm glad we're having a budget review through this year as well, so we can capture any changes at the earliest opportunity. Speaker 5: I think perhaps the amount of new staff is something that's a little bit out of the ordinary and the key message I got from our briefing was, that the new staff that are focused on workplace health and safety is addressing what was seen to be a risk that was perhaps under-addressed and that this will provide us with greater security that we won't have the future costs that incurred by Council as a result of the appropriate standards not being met.

01:54:00 And as Councillor Wilkie said, the temporary position in community engagement, if that position works as we would hope, it would see actually a reduction in our up-paying consultants to provide certain services as part of the engagement process and bring it in-house. And with the number of strategies and plans we hope to continue on with this financial year or this calendar year, it is a timely position to have in-house. Mayor Wilkie: So, we have to work. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Paul Mac. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you, Paulie. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. We invite to the table Acting Director, Alan Pagel, and Acting Volunteer Co-ordinator, the Minister of Humanities.

01:55:00 Speaker 7: It's alright. Speaker 3: Welcome. I can stay my original life. Speaker 5: And here we are on funding applications decided by Delegates and Societies. If I may, through the Chair, and with the grace of the Acting Manager for this report, I'd like to acknowledge Mr Ray Kelly, ex-Councillor, and Vivian Griffin, who were here earlier today. Speaker 7: Okay. Hello. Well, it's very quick. Good afternoon, Councillors. This is item seven. It's a report just outlining the applications that have been decided by Delegation for November. Eighteen applications were approved under Delegation. They range from building work accessible against the planning scheme to nine minor changes

8.7 PLANNING APPLICATIONS DECIDED BY DELEGATED AUTHORITY - NOVEMBER 2024 ¶

▶ 01:55:24· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:56:00 for houses, several extensions, netting to the golf driving range at the Tewantin Golf Course. And that's about it. Have you any questions about those specific delegations? Mayor Wilkie: Any questions? All right. Just how are you meeting the timeframes for these? Speaker 7: We have had some issues in terms of meeting them, but we're generally, I think, around the 80 per cent for several of them. We didn't do any reconfiguration of allots, but generally our reconfiguration of allot applications are pretty much on time. Our building ones have taken some... There have been some time, but we tend to go back and forth with houses in terms of there's a lot of negotiations between the planners. Planners and the applicants, yes, and the certifiers. And some of our applications that we're receiving could be better made from the other side.

01:57:00 Speaker 5: And just to clarify, when you're saying houses only get to the requirement of the planning application, if they don't meet all the requirements, just for the... Speaker 7: That's correct. So we've got... We've got houses that are over height, intrude into setbacks. Also, we have requirements if they're in a landslide hazard overlay, flood overlay, biodiversity overlay, that's when they trigger in terms of coming to us. Mayor Wilkie: So otherwise they're approved by building certifiers? Speaker 7: That's correct, yes. That's correct. Councillor Lorentson: Nadine, just a quick question. 1630 Haston Street, Noosa Hegs. Demolished and rebuilt. Newlet 16, can I ask? Are they the Gable Pool? That is correct, yes. Thank you. Yes. Yes.

01:58:00 Councillor Wegener: I'll move it. Speaker 5: I'll move it. Moved? Yes. Seconded by Councillor Lougheed. And Councillor Wynne, you need to speak for a moment. Councillor Wegener: Sorry. Nadine, thank you for your great work. Alan, thank you for standing in for Richard. Mayor Wilkie: I just wanted to make a comment also. Even though these reports were just a noting of issues, items that were approved under delegated authority previously, councillors would go to trouble and would be quite onerous of declaring conflicts of interest to keep, declaring conflicts of interest if they had any link to an applicant. The applicant's names have been removed from this recording so it takes away the need for any comments. So I just want to thank you for having made that change to the recording. Speaker 5: Okay. Anyone else wish to talk? Councillor Wynne, do you want to? Thanks. All those in favour?

01:59:00 Speaker 13: Yes. Yes. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 7: Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is a report on the in-house counsellors. Speaker 9: I've got Krista Fitz-Ackerley online, so she'll be presenting and providing you with a summary. Over to you, Krista. Speaker 12: Hi, and apologies, I can't be in there today. Thanks, Diana. My name's Krista, for those that don't know yet. It was requested by council that I provide this report and give an update on this new role of in-house legal counsel. Since NUSTI amalgamated it a little over 10 years ago, there hasn't been an internal legal support within council.

8.8 LEGAL COUNSEL UPDATE ¶

▶ 01:59:22· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

02:00:00 And this position commenced last December, oh, sorry, December 2023. So I'm providing this general report to give council some level of detail of the scope of my role, including excluded scope, the type of work I've been undertaking, and any benefits that I have seen for council in having an internal legal service. The scope of my role includes the following. Following legal support for council, commercial transactions and negotiations, which include reviews and interpretations of agreements, MOUs, deeds, terms and conditions, et cetera, legislative interpretation and legal updates across council, legal advice, both internal and external, in briefing external lawyers as required, on various proposals, disputes, and other matters.

02:01:00 Coordinating and oversight and tracking of litigation cases across council, legal risk guidance, targeted legal education, training and awareness for staff, legal review of all delegations and policies. There are some areas that are excluded from my scope, and these include procurement, planning, building, and plumbing, and prosecutions on behalf of teams, which is local law enforcement. This is due to the highly specialised nature of these areas. In 2024, I have seen key benefits realised, and these include conservative cost savings of over $200,000 up to and including 7 November of last year, creating additional resources for council, including a legal advice database,

02:02:00 and an overall investment. The scope of my role includes legal improvement in commercial processes and dealings, which has thereby reduced risk. This has mainly been achieved by upskilling staff with education, training, and targeted legal updates, reviews, and legal advice. Ultimately, the major benefit to council, I think, since the implementation of this role, has been a risk reduction, and this has been achieved by upskilling staff, better contracts, terms and conditions, and more. This is also improving the quality and utility of any external legal advice requested and received. The intention is to provide this legal update on an annual basis moving forward. So, thank you. Any questions? Speaker 5: And just before we go into questions, just to remember our advice counsellors that we're asking questions that are related to a specific legal advice that we need to go into.

02:03:00 Councillor Wilkie. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you, Crystal. It was very interesting to hear what you had to say. I'm interested in you saying how having the in-house legal counsel improves the utility of external legal advice gained. Can you just talk us through how that is achieved? Is that by you crafting a more specific brief for the information you're seeking? Speaker 12: Yes, all right. I won't go into any specific details. No. But how I think this is increased value. Yes. So, what I usually do is that I usually sit down with teams and get the full background of the matter, exactly what they're wanting from the advice and what questions they need answered, and then I assist in drafting that brief to external lawyers. I also review the material that comes back to ensure that the questions that we want answered are answered and they aren't always.

02:04:00 So, then liaising then with the external lawyers to make sure that we're getting what we need. Mayor Wilkie: So, would you say there's better value for money in terms of the advice that we receive? Speaker 12: Yes, I think so. And also, I sit with teams afterwards to ensure that they can interpret the advice, because that's not always an easy task, and then implement that advice in their processes. Speaker 5: Thank you. All right. Kristen, Councillor Lowsley. Councillor Lorentson: Krista, does LGAQ have a legal authority? Speaker 12: I'm sorry, you just dropped out. Speaker 5: The question was, does LGAQ have an existing database and resources that could be added to ours, or are you already linking in to that?

02:05:00 Speaker 12: Yes, we already link in and use those. This edition is actually our legal advice received from external lawyers and myself, so it's legally privileged material. That's what we use. We can then search on certain topics to make sure that there's not duplication in advice, and that it's also forming a knowledge database for council to use. It's locked down for security reasons because of the privilege, but as that grows, as the teams use that more, that will grow in value as a resource as well. Speaker 9: So, I'll just add to Krista's comment. The LGAQ legal database is another layer of resourcing information that Krista mentioned that Krista taps into and can look at as well, which is really beneficial for our council and others too that don't have legal support. They use that a lot as well. Councillor Lorentson: And Krista, is it intended for councillors to have access to that legal information as

02:06:00 well? Can it be a resource for councillors, or is it specifically just for staff? Speaker 12: I'm so sorry. Again, I can't. I can't hear that whole question. Councillor Lorentson: Hi. Can you hear? Speaker 5: Are you having? I would hate it if some of us didn't say. The question was whether the council's database is a resource that councillors can access, or is it just for staff? Mayor Wilkie: For legal advice. Speaker 12: For legal advice. So, no, that's just for council staff operationally because it relates to the operational side of the business, and we'll need that separation of powers, especially. Speaker 9: The other thing I'll add is the legal, each piece of advice that sits in the database is locked under legal professional privilege. So, not everyone across council has access to that information. We secure it down to the most appropriate officers in council that have requested the

02:07:00 advice or have a dealing with the matter. They're the ones that will have access only to the legal advice. So, we do protect it in accordance with the legal professional privilege requirements that Christa operates under, as well as other external lawyers. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you very much for the report, Christa. Mayor Wilkie: As you mentioned, the benefit to council is an identification and a reduction of risk across the organisation. So, I think it's important for us to be aware of that. There may not be the cost, there's still cost savings, but as you mentioned that the areas where you don't go and where the areas of greatest cost to council are planning, building and plumbing services. So, we still need specialised external, and prosecutions, external lawyers for that.

02:08:00 But it's certainly anything that identifies and reduces risk to council is also a reduction of risk to rate payers. And that's something that we need to be aware of. And that's a good thing. So, thank you for your work. And I understand that you may be one of the few, it's a very specialised area. You've become a generalist. A local government generalist. And you may find yourself in high demand as someone who has a rare set of skills as a result. Speaker 12: Yeah, Duckerball trades master of none across council now, I suppose. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 12: Thank you. Appreciate it. It's a pleasure. Speaker 5: Councillor Lorentson, you can speak. Councillor Lorentson: Yes. When I joined council in 2020, I was a very strong advocate for an in-house legal council. And at the time we had the CEO, a lawyer, the mayor, a lawyer, myself and Tom, a lawyer. And I remember introducing this, well, starting the discussion on in-house legal council.

02:09:00 And it was actually received with quite a bit of hesitation in the first place. And I think it's really clear that we made the right decision. I want to note that we are incredibly fortunate to have found Diana Stewart and Krista Waddell. Diana with her governance and compliance and legal expertise, you were the ideal person to bring forward this initiative. And I think Krista. You've achieved really significant efficiencies, streamlined processes and have reduced organisational risk, benefits that go far beyond just financial savings. If I were Larry or Trent, this is precisely the team that I'd want Diana and Krista and your governance team.

02:10:00 You've improved, you've introduced practical improvements and also helped build a culture of proactive risk management. I'm grateful for the report provided today and the hard work behind it. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Go ahead. Can I endorse that comment? Of course you can. Just quickly, I absolutely agree with Amelia. And it seems that upskilling council with the staff brings a familiarity and there's a sense that we're not so intimidated by these issues. And I think we're just really lucky to have the personalities of yourself and Krista there, which are very welcoming and warm people. Best team. Yeah, best team. Thank you. Speaker 5: Great. And have you got a lead voice over that? Councillor Finzel: It wouldn't be appropriate. Speaker 5: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Yeah, great report. We really welcome this.

02:11:00 Councillor Lorentson is correct. We really advocated for that in the last term. So it's great to get this report. You know, we talk about casting vision for the future and having legacy. And I really love this because we see this accumulative knowledge and the value to council, our staff and our community. So I think it's really great that we've got staff that have really fulfilled the aspirations of the council to better provide support to all those involved and, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's a really great future where we can build on this knowledge and future generations can benefit from the knowledge that we share in the organisation, which ultimately benefits the community. So thank you very much. Speaker 5: Thank you. Anyone else? Did you move the motion? I think Councillor Wilkie, if I remember you.

02:12:00 Mayor Wilkie: I did. Look, initially it was – the start of the discussion was how can we reduce our – how can we reduce our legal appeals. Legal appeals were the focus. But the – once the investigation went about how a legal – in-house legal council could benefit us, we ended up where we are. That's been a worthwhile journey, even though the intention at the start is not where we ended up, but it got us on the journey. So thank you, Krista and Dylan. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you. I'll put it to the vote. Those in favour? Speaker 8: Yes. Yes. Speaker 5: Yes. That's the end of it. Okay. So the next two items are – Thank you. Yes. In confidential session. I'm a prisoner. We'll just wait until we can get a little bit of motion after the – Yes, that's fine. There is. Yes. No, that's fine. I'm happy to move it. That the meeting be closed for public pursuance to section 254 J3IG.

9 CONFIDENTIAL SESSION ¶

▶ 02:12:56

02:13:00 I would love a government regulation 2012 for the purpose of discussing item 9.1, integrated landfill capping solution, tender consideration plan, and item 9.2, 62 landfill drive, Cooroy, revised subdivision layout. Have a seconder? Councillor Finzel: I'll be the second. Speaker 5: I think Councillor Finchel's right. I think that he's just over on the stage. Any development triggers in the legislation? No. No. That's fine in the legislation. Anyone else wish to speak for motion? No. All those in favour? And Councillor Wilson? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Speaker 5: That's unanimous. Speaker 1: So if you're not a staff member, if you could please step out of the meeting room.

9.1 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - INTEGRATED LANDFILL CAPPING SOLUTION - TENDER CONSIDERATION PLAN ¶

▶ 02:15:55· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

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

9.2 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - 62 LAKE MACDONALD DRIVE, COOROY - REVISED SUBDIVISION LAYOUT ¶

▶ 02:34:19· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

05:10:00 Speaker 5: Is the discussion all in favour? Councillor Wilson? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Speaker 5: So that was carried unanimously. You're back on line? Councillor Finzel: I thought we weren't. Speaker 9: Who was? You're back on line? Speaker 5: Let's do it. Speaker 13: We raise this every meeting. Councillor Finzel: We do this every meeting. Speaker 13: You used to do us up. You used to raise it.

05:11:00 Mayor Wilkie: Okay, I'll move that the Council note the report by the Waste Manager to the General Committee meeting dated 20th of January, 2025, and approve the preparation of a tender consideration plan substantially in accordance with the draft plan in attachment one with the design, supply and installation of the proposed integrated landfill capping solution in the northern and eastern faces of the landfill at Eumundi Noosa Noosa Road landfill site, pursuant to Section 230 of Local Government Regulation 2012. And B, delegate authority to the Chief Executive Officer to prepare, finalise and adopt the tender consideration plan. And C, request a report to a future Council meeting detailing the evaluation outcomes of the proposed request for tender process for Council's further consideration. Speaker 5: Do we have a second? Councillor Phillips: I have a second. Speaker 5: Councillor Phillips.

05:12:00 Do you wish to speak? Mayor Wilkie: I do not wish to speak. Speaker 5: You do not wish to speak? Councillor Phillips: No, thank you. Speaker 5: Oh, therefore I'll put to the vote those in favour. Councillor Phillips: Yes. Speaker 5: That's carried unanimously. We move on to the next item, which is in regard to 62 Lake MacDonald Drive. Councillor Lorentson: Let me just . Mayor Wilkie: I move that Council note the report by the principal's strategic plan to the General Committee dated 20th of January 2025 regarding Cooroy affordable housing project at 62 Lake MacDonald Drive, Cooroy and B, to further decision on this matter to the ordinary meeting dated 23rd of January 2025 to allow councillors and staff time to seek further information. Director Walsh: I move the second. Speaker 5: Seconded by Councillor Ginzer. Anyone wish to put the motion? I do. Anyone else wish to discuss the motion? I'll put the motion. Those in favour? Speaker 12: Yes. Speaker 5: That's also carried unanimously.

05:13:00 That brings us to the end of today's meeting. I declare the meeting closed at four. I'll go 5.43pm. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you very much. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you, Mr Chair.