General Committee - 17 February 2025 Transcript

3 ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES ¶

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

4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES ¶

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00:01:00 Speaker 1: And Andrew will give us an overview. That's it. Thank you. Council is in receipt of an application for a change to a development approval for material change of use. Home based business. Meet processing facility at 82 Paterson Drive, Timbewer. The change request relates to a number of the development parameters which were applicable to the site when Council gave the approval back in 2021. I'm not sure if everybody is aware of the approval but the approval given in 2021 relates to the processing of deer meat at the site. The Council, the current approval allows for up to 10 deers to be processed at the property. Once a week. So they are the sort of general parameters which are applicable to the site. The only other issue relevant at the moment is that only one person and resident of the site can occupy and undertake the home based business use.

7.1 MCU21/0154.02 – APPLICATION FOR A MINOR CHANGE TO DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL FOR HOME BASED BUSINESS (MEAT PROCESSING FACILITY) AT 82 PATTERSON DRIVE, TINBEERWAH (referred from Planning and Environment Committee dated 11 February 2025) ¶

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00:02:00 So that's the current sort of set up. The applicant has requested a change to the approval to allow up to two additional employees to assist at the site. Mainly because the physical handling of the current approved number of deers to be processed at the site is too labour intensive for the owner and the applicant. So they would like to have an additional up to two people to assist during the permitted hours of operation which are between 8 and 5pm Monday to Friday. So the actual amendment would require a change to the permit. Number of the conditions of the approval to allow that to occur. As well as to allow that to occur between the hours of 8 and 4pm Monday to Friday.

00:03:00 So at the moment the property is located within the rural residential zone. And it occurs at an existing shed at the property located in the north west corner of the property. So the shed is located approximately 50 metres from the road frontage. And is accessed by one driveway battle axe handle to the rear of the site. Upon review of the relevant sort of matters and impacts relevant to the site. This would involve an additional two car parking entrance, two vehicle movements in the morning. To access the rear of the site to undertake the assistance at the shed. And then the leaving of the property in the afternoon. So a total of four traffic movements per day at the site.

00:04:00 Upon review of the application requested changes it is recommended that the changes be approved. And that the two additional staff members be allowed between the hours of 8 and 4pm. The applicant has also requested an extension of a lapsing date. Which is relevant to the site as well. Council had originally conditioned that the approval be reviewed after a two year period. And that was applicable to the 17th of December last year. That was requested by the applicant to be removed from the approval. The removal of that condition is not recommended. But extended for an indefinite period. An additional two year period. So on a four year basis up until 2029. That's right. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay, do we have any questions? Mayor Wilkie: Yes, thank you for the report Andrew.

00:05:00 The change doesn't represent an intensification of use on site, does it? That's right. So still 10 deer per week? That's right. Speaker 3: Same operating hours, same number of carcasses to be brought onto the site in the same building. Just additional staff. Mayor Wilkie: And the extension of the two year trial period, for want of a better word, allows you to monitor the operations if there's any complaints? Speaker 3: That's correct. We have extended it out by four years. A longer period than what was previously allowed. But noting the change that's proposed just to ensure that there's no complaints. Mayor Wilkie: And during the previous two year trial period, there were complaints lodged. Could you tell us about the findings when you investigated the complaints? Speaker 3: There were some issues raised around some landscaping that it wasn't comprehensive enough in terms of what was required.

00:06:00 So there was further landscaping that had been undertaken and signed off earlier last year. There's also been some complaints around who's been attending the sites and vehicle movements. They've been investigated and haven't been substantiated. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 3: Other questions? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No? No. My only question then is, under the state law now, it's a code-assessable application. Is that the case? I can't think of an instance where we have time-limited a code-assessable application. I just wonder the merits, if we have had two years of operation without substantiated complaints, that they've complied with conditions, whether it is reasonable and relevant to actually limit the four years on a code-assessable application, considering, you know, with extra staff there's up to four additional traffic movements on the days that they're actually operating.

00:07:00 Mayor Wilkie: Is that the point of order? Is this a question, Mr Chair? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: You're probably right. I'm talking too long. So the question is, is it general practice to put time limits on code-assessable applications, and would this now be considered a code-assessable application? Speaker 3: That's a good question. I don't recall that we would have put time limits on a code-assessable application in the past. If a new application was made today, it certainly would be code-assessable for this use. Fair to say there was some discussion amongst us as officers in terms of should we apply an extended period as well, or remove it completely. We fell on the side of being cautious in terms of the change, so appreciate that could be

00:08:00 questioned. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I think I'll try an amendment. So, well, it won't be an amendment. I'll try, I'll just move the motion without the condition requiring a time limit, just to test what other councils are thinking on the matter. So that will be, I'm sorry, I haven't got the condition in front of me. Speaker 4: That's all right. Speaker 3: Condition 21. Condition 21. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So by deleting Condition 21. Correct. Thank you. Speaker 2: Um, refuse this one and just, just write, delay, delay the condition. And we take that out. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do I have a second of that?

00:09:00 Mayor Wilkie: No. I'll second it. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, you'll second it? Oh, I just think we've had two years of operation. Um, if anything, having staff on site will mean the processing time is quicker. So the potential, you know, we haven't had any impact on amenity, but that will go down. Um, my feeling is that, you know, the State Government's made it very clear that home based businesses can't be any more than code accessible. And as I said, my recollection is we've never put a time matching period on a code accessible application. And hence, I, I think that the applicant has to make a decision. That's demonstrated that they can comply with conditions and, uh, not upset, uh, any of the neighbouring properties while conducting a home based business. So I don't think I, it's necessary to have a four year time lapse period. Councillor Wegener: Question. So when we approved this, that, that, it wasn't code accessible at that time. So does that, is that approval, that's obviously still valid. Yes. If we do this and, and say it's not.

00:10:00 It's a code accessible. Well, it wasn't a code accessible. It doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't change the nature of the, of the approval in the past. It's not retrospectively code accessible. Speaker 4: Is that right? Correct. Yeah. So originally it was impact accessible. And now with the changes late last year, any new application lodged can only be code accessible under the changes in the regulations, planning regulation changes. So, uh, it doesn't change anything that's retrospectively. So the existing approval was impact accessible and, and decided. So now that's changed. It's just moving forward. Any new applications would only be code accessible. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask a question, um, through the chair, please? Certainly. Um, I'm, I'm going back to the report, um, from our, from Patrick and Andrew and agreeing with your, um, agree with your assessment of the request to delete. And your explanation was very, quite clear due to the unique nature of the, yes.

00:11:00 Point of order, Mr. Chair. There's a question. My, my question. Thank you. Thank you, um, Mayor. My question is in response to the reason that was outlined by Councillor Stockwell in terms of code assessment. We've never, um, required, you know, um, that an applicant come back at the request. Have we ever had a meat processing facility approved in the Noosa Shire? Speaker 3: In the almost 10 years that I've been with Council, I don't recall one, or I can say there hasn't been another facility like this approved in a rural residential zone. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Look, I'll speak to the motion. I appreciate what Council Stockwell's attempted to do. His reasons are valid. But there was considerable interest, community interest,

00:12:00 in this application when it first came to Council. And the precautionary principle applied then. And I think with the extra staff coming on board, I think the decision to include the extra period for monitoring is wise and can't hurt. So for that reason, I support the staff recommendation to refuse to delete Condition 21. But I appreciate Council Stockwell's reasons for testing this particular motion and the reasons behind deleting Condition 21. But I won't be supporting this particular motion in its current form. So I'll signal that I'll be moving an amendment

00:13:00 to refuse to delete Condition 21. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Would you like to do that now? Mayor Wilkie: I will. I'll do that now. Councillor Finzel: Excuse me, Mr Chair. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yes. Yes, Councillor Finzel. Councillor Finzel: Yes, before we proceed, I did have my hand up. Before we do that, may I just ask a question? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: You may, sorry. Mayor Wilkie: Sorry, I'm in chain. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, yeah, true. Sorry, Councillor Finzel. So, Councillor Wilkie had the floor and it's up to him. He has indicated he wants to proceed to move an amendment. And then after, if that's moved and seconded, he can talk and then you can ask your question. Mayor Wilkie: So it's the current motion. Thank you. The current motion. But the change would be to Section B, refuse to delete Condition 21. Speaker 2: To the current motion, but that refuse to delete Condition 21.

00:14:00 Mayor Wilkie: To delete Condition 21. Is that right? No, that refuse to delete Condition 21 is substituted. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So if you just put that and nothing else. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Take all those words after that off. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And then after B, put the word refuse. Councillor Wilson: Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And refuse to. Refuse to. Councillor Wilson: Isn't that going to get back to the original? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And revert back to the original. Mayor Wilkie: It's still an amendment. It's an amendment. Because this is the... Councillor Stockwell has moved a motion. That is the motion that's been moved before. Yeah. Not a direct amendment. Speaker 4: It's just changing conditions. Yeah. No, I think it's a leave it at that. Because it's... It's an amendment. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: If mine was an amendment, you'd have to wait for that to go through.

00:15:00 But because it was a motion, it's only partially amending the condition. Mayor Wilkie: So it would be that B refuse to delete Condition 21 be inserted. Be included. Speaker 2: That. Mayor Wilkie: No. Be included. Condition 21 be included. Speaker 2: Okay. Refuse to. Mayor Wilkie: Delete Condition. Speaker 2: 21. And be included. Mayor Wilkie: No. Speaker 4: That. Mayor Wilkie: Get rid of B, get rid of that, replace item B with refuse to delete condition 21.

00:16:00 Councillor Lorentson: A question through the chair please, Councillor Stockwell or maybe question to CEO, is the replacement of the condition, is it ultra virus, are we better just to vote on the motion and then if Council Wilkie wants to move forward the original recommendation that we do so, I'm just concerned. I'm just concerned by that what his intent is directly opposite your intent, just a question from the CEO. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, no, it's a call of the chairs, not CEOs, that as my motion was in globo and had one condition removed and Council Wilkie is only changing that one condition, it definitely

00:17:00 is just an amendment to the motion, it's not a direct negative. If he was to move that the matter be refused, that would be a direct negative of the motion. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So do we have a seconder? Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Councillor Wegener can't second. The motion, do you remember? Mayor Wilkie: No, Karen Finzel's got her hand up. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, but that was for the question? No. There was no one on line in which direction? Can you just second that? No. So the amendment lapses. So we proceed on with the motion. So only Council Wilkie and myself have talking to talk to the motion. Councillor Wegener: Okay. Procedurally.

00:18:00 Oh, Karen's had her hand up. Sorry, Karen. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Karen, your turn for a question. Councillor Finzel: Thank you, Mr Chair. Just a question to help inform this decision. Regarding the process of the process of the process of the process of the process of the process around managing retrospectively matters before us, given the new conditions by the state for code accessible for home-based business, what is the process moving forward? Do we have to stick to the original recommendation back when this was first moved, or what is the process? When it comes to a retrospective decision, do we have to stick to the original, or can it be changed? I just need that bit of information to take this to the vote. Speaker 4: Thanks, Councillor. Yeah. So the applicant has sought to change the original approval. So what we're considering today are just the elements of that are being sought to

00:19:00 be changed. We're not retrospectively seeking to take away any provisions. The applicant's applied for the original approval. They've sought changes to their approval. And we're considering the elements of that change right now. So it doesn't necessarily affect anything historical. What's been decided has been decided. We're just assessing the elements of the changes that the applicant has sought. So that's what we're limited to in terms of our assessment. The regulation changes that the Deputy Mayor raised before relate to new applications moving forward. So a fresh application for a home-based business would be a fresh application for a home-based business as opposed to one such as this was impact-assessable prior to the change to the regulations. I hope that helps to clarify. Councillor Finzel: Yes, that's clarified. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And just a question. If the application was a fresh and was assessed against the code, would the application comply

00:20:00 with all aspects of the code? Speaker 3: So our table of assessment, I'll just go back a little bit, allow for accessibility and it has certain provisions that must be met. And some of those elements are included in the code assessment as well. I've had a look at those provisions, the accepted development provisions to see whether this would actually meet accepted development. Because the vehicle movements are likely to cause noise beyond the property boundary, that would trigger it to code assessment. So my review, I think that's about the only provision that wouldn't comply. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. So that would trigger a code assessment. It would trigger a code assessment. As opposed to. You'd be considering under the code whether that impact of noise was, meets the performance objectives. That's correct. In your, and in your reporting you've identified that you believe the noise generated from

00:21:00 the site does meet the performance outcomes? That's correct. And is there, if it was to be submitted as fresh and your assessment was that, considering that, does the act require, the council must approve a code assessment application that meets the performance outcomes of the code? Speaker 3: It does. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. So anyone else wish to talk to the motion? Councillor Wegener: So my question is, procedurally, I'm not really excited about, about your amendment. That's a motion. Motion. Your motion. If this fails, then do we go back to the original, the staff recommendation? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No, we wouldn't be able to accept it at this meeting because it's already been tried and tested and hasn't got seconded. We'd have to wait for the ordinary meeting.

00:22:00 Mayor Wilkie: Question to the Chair. Because that's what I tried to do through my amendment. Yes. Yes. Councillor Finzel: And unfortunately, I couldn't ask my question. I'm sorry. I had to wait as directed by the Chair because I needed further information to understand the process before my decision. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Now, let me think. No, I'm wrong. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Because the amendment didn't get a seconder, it was never accepted. So nothing other than this has been moved. That's right. So it doesn't block it being re-litigated. That's right. Councillor Lorentson: So could you clarify? Yes. Can you clarify, Councillor Stockwell, if this motion fails, we can move the staff recommendation? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I believe so. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Which is what my amendment was. I think there's been a lack of understanding about what's occurring.

00:23:00 That's okay. Yeah. Councillor Wegener: Okay. So you've got an alternative motion. I thought a normal procedure was we have somebody who's going to be re-litigated. I think we make an amendment to the staff recommendation. That would have been preferable, wouldn't it? Yeah. Well, that's kind of the way, that's why I'm kind of, my gears are clogging up here. Councillor Wilson: You don't always do that. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Sorry. I just sought to get that item, that matter dealt with separately. As you say, it probably would be better to be as an amendment. Yes. Mayor Wilkie: Perfectly valid. Course of action. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, if there's no one else who wish to speak to the motion, I'll put the motion. I still support it. I'll waive my right. That's Councillor Wilson and Councillor Stockwell. Those against the motion, that's Councillor Wilkie, Wegener, Phillips, Finzel and Lorentson.

00:24:00 Mayor Wilkie: I'll move the staff recommendation. Against. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Second. Against. Yes. Mayor Wilkie: I'll move the staff recommendation. Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do we have a seconder for the staff recommendation? Moved by Councillor Wilkie. Councillor Finzel: Happy to support for the debate. Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That's Councillor Finzel. Second. Councillor Wilkie. You may speak to the motion. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Dear Councillors, this is essentially what I was, what you see before you is what I was moving through the amendment to Councillor Stockwell's motion. Which means refusing to delete Commission 21 means that there will be that trial period with, with, for the new arrangements and the two new staff are allowed to work on site and everything else is as per the staff recommendation. So, I, I think the staff have done their due diligence in this regard, even though all

00:25:00 the complaints made regarding this. This property and business during the last two-year trial period were found to be unsubstantiated. It's, I think it's, it's wise to take precautions and still have that trial period continue for another few years to see if the, the extra staff on site cause any amenity issues for the natives. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: A question. Councillor Kerr. Councillor Kerr. Councillor Kerr. Councillor Finzel. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Finzel can go first, she had her hand up, thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Is your hand up for another question, Councillor Finzel? Councillor Finzel: Yes, thank you Councillor Lorentson and thank you Mr Chair. Yes, I'd just like to reiterate, I think that I'm in support of retaining this condition because I think it does give that greater level of assurity and comfort to the people

00:26:00 that have raised their very relevant concerns around this home based business. So I do support this because I do think it gives us another layer of opportunity to be able to address anything that arises now and into the future. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you, and your question Councillor Lorentson? A question to Andrew. Councillor Lorentson: I'm referring to the permit. The original permit condition number 21. It states that this permit lapses on 17 December 2022 unless written consent is provided by Council to extend the approval. In assessing an extension, Council will have regard to any complaints received from nearby residents concerning breaches of the development approval conditions and any other relevant

00:27:00 matters. I'm just seeking clarification of other regulations. Speaker 3: I'll try and answer that one Councillor. It doesn't relate to the relevant matters we might have discussed within the planning legislation. It was just allowing for a broad scope of assessment by the officers to consider any matters that may be relevant. Not limiting it to just complaints that may have been received, but allowing as I said a broader scope of assessment. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I'll speak to this if that's ok. I'm not going to support the recommendation in front of us. I don't support A, the recommendation A, which is to approve the application and agree to change condition 10 to allow two employees at the site between the hours of the date

00:28:00 And I also don't support the recommendation C which is delete condition 6 of the original permit and I'll speak to the original permit which stated clearly and was also agreed to by the applicant that the approved use must be conducted by a permanent resident or residents of the detached house. It was clearly articulated that no employees are permitted. Today I'm just going to speak clearly and straightforward and going to ask the councillors today to prioritise the interests of the young family that are living 45 metres from the meat processing facility. We shouldn't allow the addition of two employees and it's my opinion that...

00:29:00 we keep the current permit conditions which still allows the resident of the dwelling to operate the business but without any employees. To me that's the right thing to do and it's also a win-win. We acknowledge and respect the wishes of this young family and we also acknowledge that stress and anxiety are real impacts. I'm going to refer to one of the... the many emails that I've received and I think planning staff have also received. This one is from the neighbour and she states that... Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Just hold on a moment. Sure. I'm just concerned about privacy legislation. Director Walsh: Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Would councillors be prevented from raising a matter if it had been raised as a complaint to...

00:30:00 Speaker 4: Yes, councillor. I would... I would apply caution regarding Privacy Act principles in terms of releasing details about particular... Councillor Lorentson: No, thank you, Richard. Thank you and I respect that. I withdraw... I won't talk about that. Okay. So, again, going back to my reasons not supporting the addition of the extra two employees and just retain the original permit conditions. Is that, again, it's the... It's a win-win. The applicant can still operate the business and if they want to expand and if they want to employ two additional workers, they still can by considering perhaps relocating to a light industrial area. And I just think that the solution to retain the current permit conditions benefits both

00:31:00 the applicant and the neighbour. Condition 21 of the development approval and we just heard from the planning staff states that council will consider complaints from the residents about breaches of the approval condition and other relevant matters. So, I put it to the councillors. Stress and anxiety recognised under work, health and safety laws are, in my opinion, relevant matters that must be taken into account. The young family, again, living only 45 metres from the meat processing shed had three children aged 16, 14 and 12. Whoa. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Oh, excuse me. Point of order. Excuse me. Point of order. Councillor Wilson: I don't believe we should be talking about ages of children living next door. In terms of privacy. Sure. Councillor Lorentson: I respect that, that there's a young family with children living next door. Yeah.

00:32:00 Sure. Thank you. And I just think that they have put in complaints to council and I accept that the complaints have not been substantiated. They have been dismissed. But I think their persistence and the number of complaints highlights at the least the severity of their struggles. Our planning laws identify noise, light, odour as impacts, but they don't explicitly recognise mental health issues. They don't explicitly recognise mental stress and anxiety. Again, I stress under condition 21 that I believe that these should be considered as other relevant matters. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you, Councillor. Just a question in regard to number of employees. Was I right in recalling that the State Government amendments made it that councils couldn't limit number of employees to any less than two?

00:33:00 Is that correct? Are people working on site? Working on site. Councillor Lorentson: Point of order, Councillor Stockwell. Is it appropriate for you to be interrupting me midway through my speaking? Oh, sorry. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'm not your city councilor. I do apologise. Councillor Lorentson: No, no. No, I haven't. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yes, it is, if I wish to. But I'll hold over and I'll let you finish. Sorry. Great. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you very much. Again, I reiterate, mental stress and anxiety are real impacts that affect the wellbeing of our residents. And we know this from speaking to residents living next door and surrounded by STAs. Noosa Plan is a community document and it's designed specifically to protect our residents. I'm going to refer to section 12 of the Local Government Act that a councillor must represent the current and future interests of the residents of the local government area.

00:34:00 In 2021, Mayor Wilkie has already expressed that there was opposition to this application and the residents stood alongside the family living next door to the meat processing facility. Today, I'm asking that we stand beside this young family and acknowledge that stress and anxiety are real impacts. I ask that we prioritise the wellbeing of this young family while still allowing the applicant to operate his business. By retaining the current conditions that allows no employees to operate and conduct the approved use, we, again, still allow the applicant to continue to operate his business and to also consider relocating to a more suitable area for their business while protecting this young family. We talk lots about putting people before profits.

00:35:00 I think today will be a really good example of us doing that. Councillor Wegener: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Question of staff. Is this application entirely consistent with the Noosa Planning Scheme? Speaker 4: Yes. And just for some relevance, the code talks about up to six employees on rural and rural residential areas. Is this application consistent with the Noosa Planning Scheme and being able to assist with home-based businesses? Mayor Wilkie: This application is half the allowable number under the existing planning frameworks, which take into account impacts on resident amenity. Was it true that the complaints about ODA were investigated and found to have been found to be none? Speaker 4: That is correct. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 4: What is your take on this? Councillor Phillips: Is there any way through the process of this that commissions like any sort of landscaping

00:36:00 or things that somewhere meet in the middle for both the, as I hear Chancellor Lawrence's speech, and that does really hit home around the family, but then also I just want to know, I guess, is there ways that we can maybe try a little harder to impose any commissions that might negate some of that? Speaker 1: Councillor, I undertook our site inspection in the middle of January to, because I haven't seen the actual operation. When you arrive at the property, there is an existing landscape buffer on the adjoining property's, basically, boundary. That's a fairly established landscape buffer already. It runs a full length of the driveway to the back of the shed, and there's also extensive landscaping around the shed. So, you know, it's a fairly established landscape buffer already. You would have to be at the shed to view it, I think, to see the shed.

00:37:00 Aside from that, there is predominance of established landscaping along the length of the boundary between the two properties at the moment. So, there may be some opportunities for some minor additional landscaping, but because of the amount already there in place, it would be, you know, something that could be done as a token sort of thing, I suppose. But, you know, there is, you know, a lot of work to be done. So, you know, it's a very substantial landscaping within the property already. It was also a condition of the previous approval that some infill planting would be undertaken. That has been done, and it's been basically shown by the applicant where that's occurred. I saw that on the day I was there as well. Councillor Phillips: I have a question. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, Councillor Phillips, in case you have a second one, I'll get to you next. Councillor Finzel. Thanks. Councillor Phillips: When you attend, do you, is it appropriate ever to go to the neighbours to see, I know sometimes you can get one view from one. Has that ever been tested, I guess, to make sure that it's appropriate for the neighbouring

00:38:00 as well? Speaker 1: To enter their site to look? I didn't do that on the day. I did offer to meet the neighbour, but there was an email error, so I wasn't able to meet the neighbouring person on the day. Okay. Thank you. Councillor Phillips: And just one more question, please, while I have the floor. The state legislation about six employees, does that open us up if it was refused? Is there any way they can? Speaker 3: So, the state, the planning regulations have provisions around home-based business now, and they state that a planning scheme can't require, or ought not to require, or not will restrict the number of people on site to less than two. Our planning scheme allows up to six. So, you can have, your planning scheme can be more liberal than the requirements of the

00:39:00 planning regulations in this regard, but it couldn't be more stringent. Our planning scheme could not say one staff member on site, because that would be a contravention of the two. But, as I said, our scheme allows up to six. And also, it allows up to ten people on four occasions a week, if you were conducting a class, such as a yoga school, or something like that. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Councillor Fingal. Councillor Finzel: Yes. Thank you. Just off the back of Councillor Phillips's question, trying to negotiate a reasonable outcome for everyone involved, especially when we do talk about stress, mental health and wellbeing. You know, that could work both ways. In this situation, when you look at the stress and the mental health and wellbeing, not only for the next door neighbours, but also the young family running the business next door. We did receive correspondence from the, for the neighbouring property. We did raise it at the P&E committee, with regards...

00:40:00 Is there a question, Angela Sindel, or are you... Yes, there is. Thank you. But my question is, did the staff, following the P&E meeting, speak to the both parties with regards to construction of a fence, as requested by the neighbouring property, to negotiate an equitable outcome for all parties? Speaker 1: No. I would say the answer with that would be no. Mayor Wilkie: Is that because there's a... Councillor Finzel: Sorry, I didn't hear that. Speaker 1: There is actually, I guess, a bamboo sort of fence in place. I believe it's a chain wire fence. There's already a sort of screening device, which includes a sort of a makeshift sort of bamboo screen at the entrance of the property. I'm unsure whether it runs the full length of the actual boundary. I wasn't able to physically get into that area of the site to view that on the day.

00:41:00 So... Yeah. Speaker 3: I think just, it's important to note, what we're assessing is a change to an existing approval to allow an additional two staff members on the site. And in that regard, the imposition of a condition for a paling fence along a 50 metre long boundary would be unreasonable. That's our opinion. Councillor Finzel: Larry, I have a question. I didn't hear... Sorry. Sorry. I just didn't clearly hear the answer, because I'm just wondering, is there opportunity to condition the fence to protect the health and wellbeing? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No. No. I'm just going to repeat in short form what the manager of Delta Control said. Basically, he said, because we're dealing with an application to only change two conditions, in their opinion, it would not be reasonable nor relevant to condition a new fence along

00:42:00 the boundary between the two properties. And I think that's repeating the advice from the Planning and Environment Committee as well. Speaker 4: Yeah. And could I just, sorry, just add to that. Council, just again, be mindful around privacy. Obviously, Act provisions, just referring to other parties and correspondents and the like is not really appropriate. So, just if we can be cautious and careful relating to those matters. Thank you. Speaker 1: Can I also add... No. Please. During the initial assessment of the request for change, I had a conversation with the applicant who raised, I guess, the costs involved in going through these processes with Council. That was probably the primary sort of focus of their concern, having to come back to apply and reapply for extensions to the approval. I was conscious at the time that he was wary of having to kind of come back to Council, because it does typically involve engaging planning consultants to make those applications

00:43:00 back to Council and paying fees. So, I think, yeah, the addition of a substantial fence would be something that would be helpful and something which would be a big financial cost to the applicant, which they probably wouldn't, would like to undertake, unless it achieved an outcome, which would improve the situation at the site already. There doesn't appear to be any sort of reasonable need for such a substantial structure. And also, the actual physicality of building a fence of that length along the boundary would require probably... The removal of a lot of vegetation that's already in place to get that structure in. So... Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, do we have... A question? I do, and I just referenced condition 19, that requests that the access handle must

00:44:00 Councillor Lorentson: be densely landscaped with native plants and shrubs to provide a dense screen of vegetation between the driveway and neighbouring residents. Is it... Can we request additional screening, planting in certain locations along the driveway to comply with that condition of the approval without amending the motion that's in front of us? Can that be just done as of... Just, again, to comply with condition 19 and 20 of the approval? Speaker 3: Well, there is an ongoing requirement for the... The approval holds to have that landscaping installed and maintained. Officers have been to the site and confirmed that the landscaping has been undertaken and that condition has been signed off. Andrew's recent site inspection noted a very small section at the front of the property where there is a thatched style fence, which can be seen, but the remainder of the property

00:45:00 is well landscaped. And we would consider it is compliant. That's the condition. Mayor Wilkie: Just following on from where I think Councillor Phillips was going with her question, is it the case that, given the Noosa Planning Scheme allows up to six employees on site, that if we refuse this application for an additional two, the applicant would be within their rights to appeal to the Planning and Environment Court? Speaker 3: They could, certainly. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Do, Councillor Phillips, your hands up if you wish to talk? Councillor Finzel: Yes, thank you. So that leads back to my question, which was regarding the process and the cost of a fence. I'm just wondering if we negotiate a condition or agree on a condition for the fence, you know, when we're talking about P and E, cost of P and E courts, cost of health and wellbeing

00:46:00 and mental health to all parties. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No, no, no. You're right. Councillor Finzel: My question is, my question is, does the process allow for Council today to condition the building of a fence? Thank you, Mr Chair. Speaker 3: Well, it's at Council's discretion if they want to impose further conditions or agree or otherwise with the officer's condition. Recommendation, apologies, but as we've already said, we don't think it would be a reasonable condition to impose. Mayor Wilkie: It would be something if, if we included that condition, the applicant could. Speaker 3: They could appeal. Appeal. Yes. Councillor Wilson: Okay. Mayor Wilkie: On the grounds of it being unreasonable. That's good. Councillor Wilson. Councillor Wilson: I'll speak to the motion. This business or home business has already been approved. The addition of two staff isn't going to change the intensity of the business.

00:47:00 It's just to help the owner. Speaking about health and safety, at the moment, if the, if the applicant was to fall ill or injured, they wouldn't be able to have anyone on site to help them until the business would pretty much fall over. So having up to two employees on staff is, is obviously to help the business to, to be sustained under its current conditions. I don't believe the arrival of one or two cars in the morning and departure in the afternoon is, is anything unreasonable compared to the level of vehicle maintenance. So, I think it's a reasonable, reasonable, reasonable move that might occur in a general household. So I think this seems a reasonable application for a minor change. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. And Phyllis. Councillor Phillips: Just my last question, listening to everyone. Is there any way between now and Thursday's ordinary meeting, that there's any way a conversation around a condition of offence or something can be spoken to with the applicant to maybe make everyone's, meet everyone's needs, I guess?

00:48:00 Speaker 3: We can always go back and speak to the applicant. I think in terms of what Andrew has said, they're finding the application process onerous, financially as it is. So I'd be very surprised if they would be agreeable. Speaker 4: And, and, yeah, and that, that opportunity already lies there from a civil perspective and parties can share the costs of establishing it. So, the concerns mentioned by Andrew earlier is that that might result in some clearing of vegetation to establish a fence. And there is already some screening of that sort of fence structure that's already in that location as well. So, we would put it to you that the owners, the parties could always talk at any stage to agree to installing a structure. Can I have a bit of doubt?

00:49:00 Councillor Finzel: Yes, thank you. Based on that question through the Chair or the CEO of the staff then, are we able to, can I put forward a motion today that we don't make this decision until we provide opportunity for the two parties to talk about shared expenses for erecting a fence to try and achieve an equitable outcome for all parties? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: That would be up to you to move the procedural motion, Councillor Kinsel. I'll talk to the motion. The planning scheme offers a lot of strategic support for initiatives such as this where we're getting packed plate niche markets for food, small scale enterprises that take advantage of our locality and also the interest in a range of different foods that can be used for food.

00:50:00 This one has the dual benefit that it is actually controlling the federal animals at the same time as creating a niche or made meat product. It has operated successfully without any substantiated problems. We have at the time of the initial application gone out on site and could not hear anything happening within the shed from as soon as you got out basically. So nothing like anyone would have experienced mowing a lawn for example. There was actually no noise coming from the establishment. And it has very minor visual impact on any aspects of the neighbourhood. So I believe the request in the application and the staff report are the appropriate ways ahead. Councillor Finzel: Well I'd like to move a procedural motion through the Chair please.

00:51:00 Sure. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Let's take it to the vote and see if we get appetite around the table to postpone this matter until the staff have had opportunity to speak to the neighbouring parties and see if there can be a resolution found with regards to constructing a fence. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So Councillor Finzel would you like staff's assistance in framing that in a way that's consistent with the Standing Orders because there's no procedural motion to postpone. Councillor Finzel: I'd be delighted, thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So if staff could come up with an appropriate wording for a referral please. It's different. Please. It's different. It's different. It's different. Speaker 4: It's different. It's different. It's different. I mean obviously without getting into the wording, we have concerns around requiring two parties to come together

00:52:00 and make a very important financial decision in a very short timeframe under the obligation that we're assessing a development application and they're evaluating a decision that they can make at any point in time. I just question again the reasonableness and relevance of requiring staff to be set on a task to engage with independent parties on the basis of having a conversation about offence. So whilst happy to assist with some wording, that would be my only comment in relation to the expectation of staff to create a situation for parties to come back to council.

00:53:00 So that would be my only question just to give some further consideration before we finalise some drafting. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: If you could just suggest what the standard deferral motion is and then council will have a chance to discuss the merits of such a proposal. Speaker 4: It dates to between February to allow 7-1. Speaker 2: Can you say the word be deferred? Speaker 4: The word be deferred. The word be deferred. That would be to allow staff to engage with relevant parties in relation to the establishment of a boundary fence.

00:54:00 Speaker 5: In relation to? Speaker 4: In relation to the establishment of a boundary fence. Councillor Finzel: Do you think we make it less prescriptive and have it just negotiate alternative outcomes or do you think we have to, I mean the reason also I'm raising this is based on your comment that the boundary fence would be a shared cost. I've also been looking at costs moving forward to all parties as well and also very mindful of the... Thank you Mr Chair. Thank you to the staff. I'm happy to move it. Let's put it to the vote and see what happens. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do we need a seconder first? Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do we have a seconder?

00:55:00 The matter lapses for one and a seconder. We go back to... Thank you everyone. We go back to the original motion. Does anyone wish to talk to the motion? I'll then go back to Councillor Wilkie and your opportunity to have the right of reply. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah look I think there's been some very good points made about the reasons for approving this application under the planning scheme. In this zone they can have up to six employees on site. It is a valid rural enterprise. If councillors don't like outcomes that are permissible under the current planning scheme then we don't vote against the planning scheme. We seek to amend the planning scheme.

00:56:00 Planning schemes signal to the community what's permissible. It is unfair. To have this information out there, to have residents make applications in good faith, go to the expense of making applications in good faith and then have their applications refused after going to all that expense for reasons that are contrary to the planning scheme. If we don't like it we amend the planning scheme. I urge councillors to say no. We support the process and this motion. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll put those in favour. That is Councillor Wilkie, Wegener, Phillips, Wilson. Councillor Finzel: Against. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, below Stockwell. Against. And those against would be Councillor Lorentson and Councillor Finzel.

00:57:00 The motion is carried. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Lorentson. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. So we move on to play. Yes, Councillor Lorentson, we've noted your vote against. Is that what you all wanted to? Mayor Wilkie: I have problems with sound. Yeah, okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: We move on to item eight, reports written to the General Committee. And the first is 8.1 of the new tenant attendance. Item eight is Peregian Beach Digital Hub. Mayor Wilkie: Excuse me, Mr Chair, I'll be out for a second. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And, we're blessed with the janitor's presence. Good afternoon, councillors. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So we have the, I think you've got a manager, a manager, not the Peregian Beach Digital Hub?

8.1 NEW TENANT - TENANCY A2, PEREGIAN DIGITAL HUB ¶

▶ 00:57:46· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:58:00 Yes, the director. The director of the Peregian Beach Digital Hub. Yes, the director. And he's here to give us an overview of this report. Speaker 6: Councillors, thank you for the opportunity. We have four office spaces at the Digital Hub, in addition to the shared workspace that individuals and small teams take up. From time to time, we have changes in tenancies, and under the Council Procurement Act, we have a process. We rely on our commercial real estate partner, Colliers, to help us keep those facilities tenanted with organisations that meet the objectives of the Digital Hub, which are to build the tech and digital sector in the region. And this is really just an update to inform council that one of those tenancies has been

00:59:00 vacated, and that we've secured a replacement tenant, and that there's quite a nice story about the replacement tenant, which is that it's three individuals that have met through the Digital Hub over the last number of months and have decided to form a new company, and in so doing, progressed from having an individual sort of co-work space to, or co-work desk, to taking a lease with council to build their company. And hopefully be very successful in our environment. It's a company called Nextplay, and they're in the technology recruitment space, so helping clients find technology talent, and these days using very clever technologies to put employers and employees together. So that's it in a nutshell. We... You know...

01:00:00 As... As a facility that tries to provide an environment for business growth, sometimes we have wins and sometimes we have losses, in the sense that early stage companies sometimes find success and grow, and sometimes even need to graduate out of our environment. Others might not be sustainable. Speaker 2: Oh. Sorry, I didn't know if that was background noise. Speaker 6: That's right. Yeah, it's OK. Other... Other early stage companies might not sustain and... And... And may die. And, you know, in both of those cases, we... We have to find replacement tenants. So our objective is, of course, to, through that process, meet both the... The sort of fiduciary requirements of the... Of the procurement process, but also ensure that we minimize any revenue losses in between tenants leaving and new tenants being secured. And in this case, we've managed to do that. So, yes, that's it. That's the...

01:01:00 That's it in a nutshell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Do we have any questions? Councillor Wilson: I had a question. Forgive me for my system of record. Is that... Is rental a commercial rate, or do we offer any sort of discounts as well? Speaker 6: That is a commercial rate. And we do consider... We do consider discounts as any sort of commercial... Landing... Landlord would, I guess. In this instance, we decided that, because the lease was for an initial one-year period, that a discount couldn't be justified. So we managed to agree with the tenant that... That it would be the regular full rate for that period. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Are there questions? We've come a long way. I have a question. Can you get it altered? Councillor Lorentson: Question. Will the commercial lease... With next play be executed in-house without in-house volume?

01:02:00 Speaker 6: We have used an external firm for all of our leasing up until now, in terms of agreements and extensions. So, the intention wasn't to bring that in-house, necessarily. But this is the first one we've had since we've had in-house counsel. So, I guess... I could take that on notice. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you very much. Speaker 6: Thanks. Speaker 5: Not necessarily. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Does someone wish to move the motion? Councillor Wegener. Seconded. Seconded. Councillor Finzel: Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Seconded. Councillor Wegener: Seconded.

01:03:00 Speaker 6: Thank you councillor, yeah it's bittersweet in fact because the tenancy that they're replacing is a company that has been very successful at the digital hub that is expanded and is setting up the HQ in Los Angeles so you sort of sometimes you're the victim of your own success in this regard but whilst the leaders of that company have moved they've left a team in Peregian Beach Beach that is growing so we we sort of get the best of both worlds there but that's to some extent that is a sign of success as if we can help companies grow and they outgrow the facilities that we have but we want to make sure that they keep some economic

01:04:00 presence here of course because you know it's about creating jobs and opportunities for others. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Anyone else wish to speak? Mayor Wilkie: No, I'd just also congratulate you Chris and your team down there on the work you're doing especially it's not just the tenancies that you you're renting out it's the the work you're doing to upskill the younger generation in coding and digital technology they're going to be the digital leaders of the future to be able to create their own businesses and work anywhere in the globe and it's it's this vacancy as you said it shows that the digital hub is working as intended where startups come in they grow they expand and they move on and create more employment and prosperity elsewhere preferably within our Shire but it's it's a great place for startups and you've done great work there so keep it up.

01:05:00 Speaker 6: Thank you man thanks again to everyone for the support in terms of as you say the the role the hub plays in skill development and knowledge development I don't think there's ever been a more important time for that so you'll be hearing a lot from us in that regard this year particularly with the rise of AI and making sure that our community benefits from that so there'll be a lot of activity we'll keep you posted on that. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Yes thank you I'd like to speak to the man before us. Firstly thank you to the digital hub and the report this is an exciting as you say we're at an intersection in time that's really exciting and I'm sure our residents will be equally as excited as we work diligently towards a sustainable future where we look at diversifying our economy to also try and make sure that we have a sustainable future where we look at diversifying our economy to also try and make

01:06:00 I'm really pleased to support this motion. I'm excited that it is visionary and moving forward that the Digital Hub and everyone there keeps chipping away at these visions moving forward that's going to bring us all along and hopefully find meaningful solutions to our community on those issues that meet with them every day in the street where they're at. So happy to support this and looking forward to future endeavours in the space around expanding our economy and our diversification towards other businesses away from tourism to meet the expectations of our community that are looking for real everyday solutions to the impacts. So thank you very much. That's okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Is there anyone else like Dr Notion? No? Councillor Hoyer, would you like to close? Councillor Wegener: Sure. I've got a quick note. I'm looking forward to it.

01:07:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Sorry, Councillor Larkin, did you wish to talk? Councillor Lorentson: Oh, I did, but I don't know whether anyone heard me. No? No, we did. Oh, hello. Oh, excuse me. I just briefly want to talk to you because I'm about to leave the meeting after this report. But I want to just reference the huge space that the Digital Hub plays in workforce and community engagement. And that's coming soon in the reports under our operational reporting. Part of our Corporate Plan 2023-2028, we've identified, you know, the importance of workforce and capability planning. And I think the question that I always ask is, have we in Newsom got the capacity and capability to do that? Have we got the capacity to deliver the services to our community and meet future

01:08:00 challenges? And I think that's the huge space that you guys are filling. And it's a really, really important space. We talk about jobs of the future, jobs we don't even know exist. And we also talk about redesigning jobs and how, you know, as Shire, we keep identifying as one of our risks in almost every report that comes to the Council. And I think that's the huge space that you guys are filling. So I think it's, you play an important space in how we rethink jobs and fill that space of capacity and capability. So thank you, Chris. Look forward to all the great stuff you do. And keep up the great work. Speaker 6: Thank you very much, councillor. Okay. Councillor Wegener: Thank you. So, councillor, we'll get back to you first. Yeah. I was just looking forward to the report on the student activities over the last couple of weeks, I think, as well, but yeah, that's it.

01:09:00 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. We need a vote. Oh, we need a vote. Yes. All those in favour? Yes. Is that all you think, councillor Finzel? Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. And I'm leaving the meeting. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll just wait. Councillor Finzel, if you can, do it verbally, please. No. I'll take a hand up and say yes. Yes. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. And we will note that... Thank you very much. Yes. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Appreciate it. Thank you, Chair. Bye. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. We move on to 8.2, and that's financial performance report, January 2025. Speaker 8: Good afternoon, councillors. We table the monthly finance report as at 31st of January, 2025, and I'll hand over

8.2 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT – JANUARY 2025 ¶

▶ 01:09:54· Carried unanimously 6-0 from council's minutes

01:10:00 to Pauline, our manager of finance, to take us through the detail of the report. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And I would... Just for the purposes of the record, we have an acting director of corporate services here with us for the next 12 months, and hence why you're not seeing Trent. We have Mark. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 7: Good afternoon, councillors. So, firstly, councillors should note that the January report is now reflective of Budget Review 2, which was adopted by Council last month. Financial performance for the month of January continues to be positive, with operating revenues continuing to outperform forecast and operating expenditure under budget at this stage of the year. Operating revenue is $1.6 million above budget, which is primarily being driven by interest revenue of $1.1 million. Almost $300,000 from sales of goods and services, $164,000 from grant programs, and $240,000 from other revenue sources.

01:11:00 This has been offset, however, by lower to forecast fees and charges, with development assessment fees down $350,000, noting that there are several large DA applications currently being assessed. But, however, due to the stage of completion on those, that revenue has not yet been recognised. Building and plumbing fees, however, are up $127,000 year-to-date. Operating expenditure is $770,000 under budget at this stage of the year, with employee costs $346,000 under budget. I'd like you to note that this is primarily due to the timing of staff taking annual leave, so there's a large continuum of staff taking leave over December and through January, and due to the way that we've profiled that, that has kind of dipped down quite a bit. So that's sort of driving some of that. Materials and services, $190,000 under budget at this stage. We do have overspends currently showing in civil operations of $342,000, and holiday

01:12:00 parks is $104,000 over budget as well. You will note with holiday parks that they have a corresponding increase in their revenue line, which also have a corresponding commission line through their reports, so that correlates to their revenue. Waste is currently $428,000 under budget at this stage. That's under spent, and that relates to the forecast contract and rise in their contracts not being as high as we anticipated. But overall, Council's year-to-date operating position at January 2025 is $2.4 million above budget, which will be utilised to fund any emergent issues that happen throughout the year. Capital revenue is $9 million above budget, and that's due to the timing of our profiling and receipt of QRA disaster funding and our SEQ CSP funding. Capital expenditure is behind budget to $28.4 million, with $18.3 million relating to our disaster projects and $10.1 million relating to Council's base capital program.

01:13:00 This variance is driven largely by budget profiling and the timing of the project delivery. Council is currently holding $110 million in cash reserves, with $30 million continuing to be invested in higher yielding to term deposits. We have not invested additional funds in term deposits. Because UTC, where we hold the balance of our funds, is also offering quite high yields at this stage as well. At this stage of the financial year, Council's financial performance remains on track, subject to any emergent issues that may arise for the remainder of the year. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. So, questions, councillors? Yes. Councillor Louie. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Thank you very much for the report. I had a question about civil operations expenditure, which is higher than expected. Does that mean that it's been a higher than expected work rate, or higher than expected costs? Speaker 7: So, we have done some investigation, and some of it was some re-profiling. However, parks and gardens continue to be higher than we had originally forecast, in terms

01:14:00 of some arborist services and mowing contracts. So, we are doing some more work on that, in terms of looking at the timing of that work and seeing where that ends for the remainder of this year. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Councillor Kessler. Director Walsh: In the budget process for the last financial year we actually executed savings of about $900,000 in the civil assets and operations budget to actually balance the books. We're hoping that there will be a drier year in terms of vegetation growth and vegetation management. That hasn't borne fruition and we're actually seeing real costs actually bearing down the budget. You recollected from the councillors I had a good discussion about that trimming the budget achieves sustainability and financial expenditure but allowed very little room for reactive works to actually respond to emerging issues. And we're certainly working with civil assets and operations to further refine the budget, but this is the direct consequences of budget savings from the last financial year as well.

01:15:00 Mayor Wilkie: So you're saying it's mainly vegetation, not this work? Because of excessive growth and tree issues? Director Walsh: A large part of it. Some of the initial investigations undertake that some years ago, prior to this council and prior to my executive involvement, there was a trimming in the roadside vegetation management budget associated with road safety. There used to be three passes and that's now down to one pass. And what's happening is that when we go to do road work, such as sheathing works or resealing works, we're having to be hit with significant vegetation clearing works to actually get the road to a safe standard because there needs to be clearance for the vegetation. So that's some of the things we're finding through investigation. The other thing we're finding is a significant increase in safety or traffic control. There was legislative changes about three years ago and we haven't been fully implementing those safe practices recently. And we're now having to implement safe traffic control practices. Noting we have had some significant road safety incidents where people have been ignoring traffic control and driving into, attempting to drive into people as well as property.

01:16:00 So we're actually, as a result of incidents, having to spend a lot more on traffic control to meet standards. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. The other question I had was about provisions. Provisions in the balance sheet seem to be projected to be significantly lower than last year. Could you just explain why that would be? Statement of financial position. Speaker 7: So are you referring to provisions 11 million versus 8 million? Yes. Okay. So the large proportion of the provisions relate to our landfill rehabilitation. We don't, we've had several years with forecasting the life of that particular facility as well as the cost of doing that. It was higher in previous years because we had a bit of a catch up to do so that bumped our provisions up a little bit higher than what we were before.

01:17:00 But we also consume those as we do capping works. So you'll see we had originally forecasted capping works which would have brought that provision down this year. We also have employee provisions running through those lines as well. So there hasn't been, there's only like I think a $2 million reduction which we would expect to see coming down particularly in relation to the landfill over time as we do works to remediate that site. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Thank you. And could you also put the below budget actual sort of development assessment into some sort of context? Reasons why? Speaker 7: Well development assessment charges are always dependent on the applications that come in or the works that are being conducted at the time. So it can be, we can see different times. I'm not sure if Richard has any statistics in that respect. Speaker 4: Yeah. Through the Chair. Thanks for slowing down. Yeah but we're still getting the steady number of applications coming through. We're probably not getting as many new larger development applications which generate larger fees.

01:18:00 As Pauline mentioned we do have a number of large applications which we are withholding some of the revenue from those fees as we progress through the application. So we release that revenue as we essentially earn it through the process. So but overall we're not probably getting as much of that larger revenue DA as we would. We are looking at our fees and charges very closely for the upcoming budget to just make sure that the cost recovery principles are being adhered to so that, yeah, so that those lower end fees are, we're recouping our full cost on those two. But we are finding that we're not getting as many as those big, big new DA fees coming in. Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Other questions? Councillor Finzel: Yes, thank you. Yes, thank you. Thank you for the report. Comprehensive as always. A question to the Chair, Trude Segoe.

01:19:00 The staff is saying that they're not going to be able to get any of the funding that was under budget to 346,000 underspend. Can you just tell me a little bit about the enterprise bargaining agreements and how those conversations are progressing in relation to the budget? Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm just thinking of what can be said here and what you'd like to know in this forum, Councillor. Yeah. We are operating, this is operating on the existing Certified Agreement, so the existing payments. Yes, the Certified Agreement has been negotiated. It technically finishes, or it's finished at the end of February. So we have a period now between the end of February and July. But we haven't finalised the negotiations of the new CA at this point in time. So we're making whatever allowances we think will be needed.

01:20:00 But until it's finalised, we don't know the exact date. Councillor Finzel: Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Just, I'm not sure I'm going to direct this question through. Given we're coming in under budget, do you feel reasonably confident then that we'll be able to negotiate, you know, good outcomes for our staff that need to be either being moved from casual positions to full-time contracts, or expecting, you know, they've gone up in a level through staff training, that we have, you know, a budget position that we can provide assurance for? Yeah. Thank you Mr Chair, I don't want to compromise any of that. Thank you for bringing that to

01:21:00 my attention. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Other questions, or does someone wish to move the motion? Councillor Finzel: Happy to move. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Councillor Finslaw, Senator. I'll second. Councillor Woodley. Over to you, Councillor Finslaw. Councillor Finzel: Thank you for the report. I think it's all been said. As always, the report, you know, gives us a clear indication of where we've been, where we are and where we're going. So keep up the good diligence. And these reports are easy to read, easy to understand, and I think it gives us a really clear indication of where we're headed. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Anyone else wish to talk? No. No? Thank you both. Okay. So Councillor, no one else wishes to talk, so you don't need to close unless you really want to. Happy to proceed forward.

01:22:00 Thank you. I'll put the motion, those in favour? Opposed? Yes. And that's unanimous. Councillor Wegener: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay, thank you. We'll move now to item 8.3, operation as planned, our 2024-25 second quarterly reporting, and we welcome Deb Iezi to the table. Deb? Speaker 2: Good afternoon, everyone. So this report is the Q2 report, as already identified, and it covers the period the 1st of October to the end of the year. So for all of our viewers, the requirement to report our progress is a statutory requirement, and the CEO has to report on our operational performance. This report presents our performance against 107 initiatives by themes, and those themes relate to the corporate plan. Progress has been good this quarter. We've actually improved and got a number of projects back on track.

8.3 OPERATIONAL PLAN 2024-25 Q2 QUARTERLY REPORTING ¶

▶ 01:22:36· Carried unanimously 6-0 from council's minutes

01:23:00 Eighty-two projects have been completed this quarter. One initiative, Sander, either completed or on track, with 17 encountering minor disruptions and two initiatives major disruptions. And compared to the previous quarter, we've actually been able to get a couple of projects back on track, so that's the – hence that's shown in the figures. So the attachment 1 gives a detailed breakdown in the report by theme with all of the initiatives and their current progress and their status. There's also some general commentary around the current situation, which impacts on our initiatives, things like our very heavy community engagement calendar, some of the challenges we face with staff turnover and vacancies in key positions. And then some of the other issues around – we have a number of significant plans and strategies which are yet to be finalised, which does impact on the operational areas, especially

01:24:00 in relation to the various – the number of projects they're managing, but also being able to bring projects to completion. Attachment 2 is just really a high order summary by – in a spreadsheet of all of the initiatives by theme as well. Going forward, that probably won't be produced in the report because we're aiming to actually produce the report from our new corporate planning system for the next round of reporting, provided everything goes to plan. So it's a little bit – it's still under development, but we're nearly there. And then attachment 3 just provides an update on the operational KPIs that we've traditionally reported on with some commentary. There are a couple of areas where unfortunately commentary wasn't provided. We had a bit of a hiccup because this is – these reports are actually produced from the system and there are just a couple of areas, but I'm sure the directors will be able to answer any questions if you had any specifics on that. One that I'd probably like to highlight is the staff turnover figure, which is getting

01:25:00 close to the 20%. If you do compare it to Australian figures, the average turnover rate to December 24 was 14%, and in the public sector it's 18%. So we're not alone in this situation. So very reflective of public sector figures. Having said that, of course we need to focus on it, especially the delivery of a lot of our projects depends on having those staff, and there are some hot areas at the moment as well. Mayor Wilkie: Just a clarifying question on that, Deb, if I may. Yeah, sure. That 19%, is that specifically the second quarter? Yes. Speaker 2: Okay. Yeah. So it's not showing the current figure, for example, which would be reported in the next quarter. So it's to the 31st of December. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. And in terms of your research around that, the key reasons why there's that high turnover in the public sector at the moment?

01:26:00 Speaker 2: Well, would you like me to talk to that, Larry? I think there's a whole lot of reasons. Yeah. Look, there's a number of factors. We've had difficulty for the last few years recruiting skilled people, protecting the technical engineering trades, given the amount of capital and infrastructure projects that are going on state-wise and even nationally. So there's that. The other is that there normally is movement between local governments, and local governments traditionally, the way that you got promoted was that you applied for higher positions in other councils. And we're not a large council, but we're a decent-sized council. So there is movement which just normally occurs in that regard. The other is that the cost of living for employees to come to Noosa and live in Noosa is very high, and you might find that you have someone who's actually been successful, and when they get here, trying to find a place to live is a problem. And can they then afford to actually live here and then take the position?

01:27:00 There are a number of factors. Do you want to throw in any more, Larry? Speaker 5: Oh, I think it's just people that, the general, there's a general movement of people as well, that people just move roles where in the past they've stayed longer in roles, and that's a factor. But I think it's cost of living, it's just a whole range of things that come to play in this. Yeah. And we are making a whole lot of moves as best we can to try to stabilise our workforce, but unfortunately, you think you've got it stable, and then there's a whole lot of competing requirements. We're losing staff and finding it difficult to find staff in our finance area, as we've talked before, but also in our project management area, because there's so much work going on out there that people are either going back into the private sector or there are other jobs. So the amount of construction that's going on, just in the roads, and new facilities

01:28:00 that are being built, and the Olympics coming, so there's a whole lot of movement just constantly. So we're battling against that, and we are trying to make sure that we're competitive in the financial and remuneration as best we can, but we are a local government, and we've got constraints there as well. So it's a difficult, difficult place to do. And again, we're not immune to it. We're not, sorry, we're not alone to it. We're, the councils around us are having exactly the same issues. Speaker 2: Yeah. And we have, the executive team has recognised this, and updated the strategic risk register, and some of the actions to address that is reviewing our traction and retention strategies, and developing a strategic workforce plan and progressing that. So that's been escalated in our strategic risk register as well, which was reported to the Audit and Risk Committee just last week. So, yeah. Thank you. That's good. Thank you. Councillor Phillips: Just a question. Probably through to the CEO. I suggested at the SMO, if possible, for councillors to be able to make really informed decisions

01:29:00 with the exit interviews that we're seeing with staff leave, if we could somehow see a workshop or a report around the reasons why. So we get a really good, detailed position. Yep. Speaker 5: Sure. We can bring that to you. Thanks. Speaker 2: If I may, as well, just contribute something further. I think it's very important that going forward that, you know, that what we're doing in relation to our employee engagement, into our leadership, that we continue to engage with our staff, so they want to stay with me as the council, and they are valued, considered to be valued employees. So that work which is being headed by Amy in the community, in the employee engagement area, is really important going forward, and making sure, you know, the wellbeing of our staff, so that people do actually, that we can try to retain people. That is an important factor. Mayor Wilkie: An important factor going forward.

01:30:00 Like the staff recognition awards afternoon, for example. Speaker 2: Yep. Mayor Wilkie: Yep. Yep. Yep. Things like that. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yep. Okay. Mayor Wilkie: Sorry, I interrupted you. Speaker 2: No, that's fine. I'm happy to take on board any questions, or the relevant director can answer more specifically. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Sure. I'll just kick off. So you said we've got a new system coming through. While it's an operational plan, the operational plan is a one year, what we hope to achieve in one year from the corporate plan, when staff are reporting, are they looking directly at the operational plan, or are they actually reporting against their branch plans down here? I'm just looking, will the new system actually provide that alignment if it's the latter? Speaker 2: It will, it will, when it's fully implemented, because we link, it aligns the operational plan, each operational plan initiative, with the corporate plan objective, and it will be able to then flow down, that you would then be able to allow, align to branch plans. At the moment, those branch plans are sitting in Excel spreadsheets or Word documents.

01:31:00 So, it will give us integrated, more integrated picture. Okay. Of it. Branch plans would contain the initiatives that are in the operational plan, as well as other projects and initiatives that relate more to the service delivery side of things, that don't necessarily get reported to council. Yeah. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, just to follow on. So, the traffic light type approach, if we've got something in the operational planning, where the branch said, well, we've had that position break, for instance, and we've got that number, does that show up in their planning as in they don't have a lower expectation, or does the target we set before, knowing that we're going to have a long loss of a key staff member? Just a couple in there that I was surprised are showing as on track, where I think they're behind. Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

01:32:00 Yeah. And we, sometimes people do actually in their commentary probably, I suppose want to promote that they are progressing. Do you know what I mean? We really will need to keep an eye on that in the third quarter because then we will be looking to develop the new operational plan. In the last quarter, there were a number, there are several initiatives that were showing minor and major disruptions that have, have got back on track. That the. But we will need to scrutinise it a little bit more closely to make sure the reporting is accurate, but particularly at that quarter three, because you do not want to get to quarter four and think everything's progressing just fine on track and then get a surprise. But normally that doesn't happen. There can be developments in projects with a council decision, for example, which allows things to progress. And staff have been working pretty hard to bring things back on track. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'm more just thinking about this. I'm sure when people are filling out their part, they're doing it in accordance with their plan, but I'm just wondering whether that by nature, because we have a 20% vacancy rate, that we're not capturing that 20% loss of productivity because it's free.

01:33:00 Yeah, we might have to think about maybe on a program level, start looking at what was our starting capacity for this quarter to achieve this outcome. Speaker 2: Yeah, to really see the impact of the resourcing on the delivery. Yeah, yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Other questions? Councillor Wegener: Yeah, Boyma. 2.6.1, or 2.6.1, there's a red. And the initiative is to undertake the preparatory phase for the proposed development of a new community strategy, which outlines the community vision, and it says that it has major disruption due to staffing.

01:34:00 Well, I'm going to, this is actually going to speak to us, turning the question into a, Oh, you can. Oh, yeah. You've all got a question, don't you? Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Perhaps you'd like to move the motion. You can move. Councillor Wegener: Oh, yes, I'd like to move the motion. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Certainly, and the thing is, You can't say what it is. Now you might speak, I rule. Councillor Wegener: Okay, first of all, it's very impressive. I look at the year in review, and I look at the operational plan, and it is, it's so big, and it's so massive, that it is impressive. And where I'm going with this is, when I set out 2.6.1, that we haven't started the undertaking for preparatory, preparatory phase for the proposed development of a new community strategy. I'm looking at this saying, this is actually our community strategy.

01:35:00 Our operational plan is impressive, and what we're doing is utterly amazing. And sometimes I consider that we're moving into a destination management plan, kind of looking forward, where I think our goals of this year are to continue doing what we're doing, to finish what we're doing, because the operational plan is on track, and it's fantastic. And in my opinion, this is the heart and soul of our new city council, is just to maintain doing what we are actually doing, and to perhaps celebrate a bit more of these successes. For example, in the operational plan, we're delivering the cycle and walking implementation plan, which is our destination management. The Go Noosa, again, implement SQA local laws, management plan, public art policy, trail, botanic gardens master plan,

01:36:00 , voting land, the library. All of this is within our operational plan. And to me, this is the heart and soul of what we actually do, outward facing to the community. So on a wider level, I think, this is the heart and soul of what we actually do. And I would just love to see us celebrate these and continue doing what we're doing, and finishing up, and not launching into anything that might detract from this, because this is fundamental. And I don't think anything should overlay this, because this is working, and it's what we're doing. So I'm just thoroughly impressed in a nutshell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. I'll just wish to talk. Mayor Wilkie: No. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Oh, look, thank you, Deb, for the report. The one thing I get from this is, as Councillor Wegener said, it's just the enormity of tasks that this council has set our staff to do

01:37:00 at the last budget. With 107 initiatives, 88% of them are on track. There's been some disruption to some of them. We've heard the reasons, some of the reasons why. And it just makes me a bit conscious of one of the distractions that I mentioned, is unplanned demands on staff time. And I think it's something for us councillors to be mindful of when we bring extra tasks to the staff to undertake that were not originally set out in the massive budget and budget-funded operational plan that we all, you know, unanimously agreed upon when we adopted the budget. But please pass on our thanks to the staff for the great work that they continue to do day after day.

01:38:00 And then there's operational issues on top of this that just the day-to-day business of the council that's also churning away as well as these other strategic, more strategic initiatives. So please thank the staff for the work they're doing. Absolutely. Speaker 5: It's a massive effort. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. I'll add, like, on the whole it's a very good report suggesting good progress on track with what we plan to do. We balance that against what we'd like to do. And a lot of time as councillors we get the query about why aren't you doing what your strategic incentive is going to be doing? And the councillor we can have a sort of saying, well, we just keep going with what we're doing. But we have adopted that aren't going as quickly as I would like. And as communities like it many around this table, we have to realise that this report doesn't highlight some of the key issues. Eastern Beaches' Portable Management Plan,

01:39:00 it being one of the ones beset by a long vacancy. But we also have to make hard decisions about budget around, we didn't put a lot of money in there for restoration of encroachments. We didn't put money in the budget for replacing a coastal engineer to do the speech accesses. Now, these are things that don't show up in the Corby operational plan. But it's what, when the community who are engaged, look at it in their project and say, well, it's on track, but they haven't known what they're supposed to be doing. These are the things, as councillors, we have to work out how we communicate that and be open and on the stage. If we hoped to achieve more by now, it's likely we'll walk away. Every budget comes up, I'll say, yeah, just increase the funding by 10 times a minute. But we have to also be the reality that to fund these initiatives, if we don't get grants, it comes out of rat payers' pockets. So we have to balance the desire with the actual reality

01:40:00 of having to balance the budget. But on the whole, this report shows we're on track with doing what we said we'd do this year. Mayor Wilkie: Anyone else? Just a follow-up question about that. The Eastern Beaches foreshore management plan is something that's intended to run over multiple years. So, and here you've mentioned that you've listed the actions that have been completed under that, but there are more years to run before it's all, all the actions are completed. That's right. Just to put it in perspective. Speaker 2: Yes, it is. And there are several other initiatives like that, where the plans actually, the programs run over a number of years, and it's just reporting against the particular year, but they do extend over later years. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Councillor Fiddler, do you have a hand up to speak? Councillor Finzel: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.

01:41:00 I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for the report. It's comprehensive and gives us a good snapshot and a road map on our destination towards where we're heading. I like the idea that we are reaffirming our continued focus on community resilience, facilities and services, especially health and wellbeing, culture and creativity. Again, you know, we've got to work hard as a council to try and balance our aspirations, our set targets, and our budget to try and get, you know, equity across the Shire, and meet all the needs and expectations. Having said that, you know, our corporate plan, we are striving to support strategies and plans, and we are heading towards the Noosa Community Strategy and Social Justice Charter, which will, again, will help ensure that this livability

01:42:00 and Noosa being a place where, not only do we respect our biosphere values and our environment, but we really focus on, on our people and where they would like to be, and together we're moving forward. So I think we're all working hard in this space, including the staff that have presented the report, Speaker 7: and together we'll keep moving forward on the matters raised. Councillor Finzel: So thank you, everybody, for the work and the time and the energy that you have put into this body of work. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Councillor Wegener, would you like to extend your right of reply? Yeah. So, considering the budget, I'm hoping that, especially the new councilors, we'll start to begin connecting the dots from the operational plan to the budget. And I don't think we really had the opportunity to do that in the last budget session because we were just elected, and we kind of rushed in and we had a couple of initiatives that we voted on. But to really perhaps step back and look at the operations

01:43:00 and look at what we spent our money on, and maybe have a more, a more distant approach to it and see on a more holistic level how things are moving along within the council. Because my gestalt is that our operation plan is fantastic, and my opinion might be that focusing on initiatives moving forward may be offset somewhat by really looking at what we're doing and finishing what we're doing and appreciating what we're doing, getting to know what we're doing a little bit better. Because we need to change. Yes, we need to change. But we actually do stuff really well. And the meeting of the plan just brought that to me. It just, my gosh, you know, how the whole system really spins well. We have a very, very good financially stable Shire. And this proves it.

01:44:00 But to step back and maybe appreciate it a little bit more instead of looking off into the future and seeing what's over the horizon, looking at our own backyard. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: The reformed BlueSide Council. I'll put the motion. All those in favour? Yes. And that's unanimous. That brings us, there is no confidential session. So that brings us to the close of the meeting. Thank you. And we will end. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Chair.

10 MEETING CLOSURE ¶

▶ 02:48:52

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