Services & Organisation Committee Agenda - 9 September 2025 Transcript

1 DECLARATION OF OPENING ¶

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2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY ¶

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00:01:00 and offer gratitude for their careful custodianship of this unique environment over thousands of years. We have no apologies. Everyone's in attendance. Can we have a mover for the confirmation of the minutes from a previous meeting? Councillor Wilson: I'll move it, Madam Chair. Councillor Finzel: I will in favour. That's unanimous. And that was moved by the Mayor and Councillor Phillips. Thank you. There are no deputations, no presentations. We come to item seven, reports for consideration of the committee. We're starting with item agenda 7.1, 2025 Annual Disaster Management Report. We welcome Sue Lowry, Ian and Shaun Tewantin. We welcome Sue Lowry, Ian and Shaun Tewantin. We welcome Sue Lowry, Ian and Sean Tewantin. Thank you. Welcome. Looking forward to hearing all the wonderful things that's been going on in this area. I read the report and very impressed.

3 ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES ¶

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7.1 2025 Annual Disaster MANAGEMENT REPORT ¶

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00:02:00 Speaker 6: Thank you. Thank you everybody. Okay, so this report provides an overview of the work and initiatives that have been done in the disaster management space over the last 12 months. The report has been prepared with other agencies and sections of council including our fire management team, the climate change adaptation team and the SES. The report also will be tabled at the forthcoming local disaster management group meeting and sent to the district disaster management group for their information. Just a little bit of background, the reason for it. Under the Disaster Management Act, council is responsible for multiple functions across the pillars of disaster management and this report talks to some of those, just not to recovery. So the key initiatives for the last year include the effective coordination of the TC Alfred response and the rainfall event two weeks after that, known as the Western Queensland Trough.

00:03:00 Finalisation of the comprehensive 2022 disaster reconstruction program. The implementation of enhanced flood intentions. Intelligence functionality within Guardian IMS to improve situational awareness and support more informed decisions during response phases. Technical improvements to the disaster dashboard to streamline community access to flood camera imagery. Improving usability and public engagement during emergencies. Phase one of the flood risk investigations has been completed into the most flood affected neighbourhood in Noosa, Lake Entrance Boulevard. And funding has been obtained. For phase two of that project. Completion of the first iteration of the local resilience action plan with phase two of that or second iteration to come very shortly.

00:04:00 And that's been shared with QRA and it outlines priority actions for council to improve resilience across the region. And consultation with the Kin Kin community group to support a rollout for community disaster sub plan for that community. A key priority for the program moving forward. Is a strong emphasis on continuing to improve foundational elements for the function. Effective operation of systems and the regular review of documentation. The disaster resilience program will continue to focus on disaster preparedness. But will also undertake a reflections exercise from the extended disaster reconstruction program. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Are there any questions? Thank you. Councillor Phillips: Thanks. I've got a few. Sorry. I did send some through. Thank you. But just more for anyone watching and to clarify. My first question is, is it normal process for the report to come to the committee before it would come to LDMG?

00:05:00 Speaker 6: Yes. Normally we don't actually give it to LDMG. Normally it's just in the past it's just been presented to council. Councillor Phillips: Okay. And so when it comes to LDMG then there won't be any discussion for it to have recommendations for change. Is that how that would work if it's already come to us? Speaker 6: That's correct because it's just really a report for noting. And the key part of the report I suppose is the actions identified from the last event which all of the agencies were involved with. So I don't imagine there will be any changes to that. Councillor Phillips: Yeah. Okay. Next question then. It ties into this. Does the district, DDMG, they'll do a report on reflections? Speaker 6: They have. Yes. They've already done their lessons identified. They did as, do you remember what date that was? Speaker 1: I'm going to say May. I think it was May. Speaker 6: Yeah. End of May, end of June. Speaker 1: May, beginning of June.

00:06:00 Speaker 6: June. Yeah. Yeah. Director Walsh: I understand it. But your understanding, Sue, you've never seen evidence of them preparing a district annual disaster management report? Speaker 6: I've never seen a copy of it, no. Director Walsh: No. So, and it's something we can seek clarification from our new EMC, so from the state, because we understand there might be some changing obligations in that regard, that there is an expectation that the district does prepare an annual report and be forwarded on to the state emergency services. Speaker 6: Yes. Director Walsh: Yeah. Speaker 6: As well as that, I am aware that because we all prepared the same report, we were all required to prepare a report to the Inspector General Emergency Management on the activities of the, both the activities for the season and their standard annual report on how we reviewed our plans. And we all collaborated in preparing those together. That's the district, Sunshine Coast Council and Noosa Council. Councillor Phillips: Okay. Just for clarity on that, because then I'm hoping that there'll be... I would assume there'll be synergies between the LDMG and the DDMG's report, if that's

00:07:00 the hierarchical process, and then it'll come back down as recommendations. Would that... If that... It goes to the state and then comes back to the district with... Speaker 6: No. It's purely just a report on activities. So all we're doing is reporting to the state saying that we have met obligations. If they've got any concerns, yes, they would come back and ask questions. But they don't usually provide recommendations, no. Councillor Phillips: The flood mapping in the report, the identification in the... Our systems, that was something that I thought, because that came from DDMG in the cyclone alpha, there was... Has... This is why... I kind of thought it would go to LDMG or for them to at least look at what's proposed in the report. Because that was something that was raised in Alfred.

00:08:00 Yes. Director Walsh: So probably distinguish between the processes. So we certainly have worked with the local disaster management group members on a debrief process from tropical cyclone Alfred, and also Western Stormfront. And that lead to a series of workshops where we discuss those recommendations. And then we've actually tabled those with LDMG. So they've already been tabled, those recommendations, and accepted as being a good report. Whereas this report is really a report on all our activities in relation to disaster management resilience across the whole year. So it's got a broader remit. So I just wanted to clarify that. Speaker 6: So is that correct? Director Walsh: Yes, exactly, yes. Speaker 6: And the lessons identified will be reported too at each LDMG meeting, how we're progressing. Director Walsh: So we did a lot of work when we both inherited these roles. We ended up with a whole list of actions left over from the 22 event that hadn't been actioned. And Sue and I diligently went through them all, and actioned them, and started reporting

00:09:00 them through the LDMG group. So we are proposing that that same process will exist for these 2025 actions, that we'll report every meeting on our improvement towards all of those actions. Councillor Phillips: Wonderful. Jumping over just resilience, so this will probably be for you Ian, a couple of questions. Where do we sit with the resilience? Is it regional level, deep resilience, what you do? Does that feed into what we're doing? I'm thinking about Get Ready Week coming in here. Speaker 1: Yeah. So Sunshine Coast Council and the district don't have a resilience position. They have different parts of contractors that come in and do bits and pieces. In the case of programs and things, they'll generally send them out and then have modules that are sent back. So there's no one actively in that space. So I've... The question... Which is absolutely warranted, is feeding into the district relationship generally is, if it's okay to say, led almost by Noosa in a lot of ways.

00:10:00 Having said that, the XO and the EMC drive a lot of that with me. If we're in the case, and through Shaun, if we were into crystal balling, I suppose it's going to be a case there of there's definitely room and ambition for that to try and have a bigger presence through the district in time. But there's no one... In the meantime, what we do is we just have events. So we have our event that's coming up on the 11th of October. They have theirs on the 19th. And by committee, we all sort of help make that happen. Director Walsh: Yeah. And probably from a historical perspective, the original resilience officers provided to local government were actually originally funded by the Queensland government. And Noosa, we understand, is the only local government that's actually elected to actually establish a full-time establishment position. And many of our other compatriots across the region don't no longer have resilience officers. So we think we're really fortunate to have this position to really lead the charge. And that's why we find a lot of interest in Ian's work from the region and the district

00:11:00 about what traction we're getting. Yeah. Councillor Phillips: Well, that goes on to... Can you tell me, Ian, just... Around the subgroups and the events that you hold. Can you give me maybe just some measurable outcomes for the community to see what... I know how much you do with schools. And there's no question about that. But how do you look at that from a measurable point of view? Speaker 1: Yeah. So the great question in that... And it's already been highlighted by Sue in the relations that we have with our disaster subgroups. So probably going back to the initial reconnection with Pomona, so Pomona was set up as a disaster subgroup in September of 23. And then we worked very closely with them to create, ultimately, and I suppose as far as how subgroups work, which is ideally where I come in, work with some community champions.

00:12:00 And that includes, obviously, in the case that might be school principal. So we've got a lot of subgroups that are responsible, IGA for supply chain, the chemist, the medical centre, the newsagents, those sort of things, and the emergency services clipped around the edges. The thing that's sort of been found historically is the problem, as we know with PreGN Pfizer 2019, was that calls were made and then trying to get a truth from the ground was really challenging. So the idea of the subgroups is they're feeding to us directly what's going on in town. The idea is we set it up. So that's correct. We've got them sort of the whole templates, contact lists, create the relationship and then immediately almost step back to then become, I suppose in truth, what happens is if there is going to be a disaster, there might not necessarily be someone there for them. It might then be just that core group of five, six people for three hours, three days, whatever it ends up being. So the question coming back to how do we measure it?

00:13:00 We certainly measure it by Pomona for the fact they've been going for two years. They now have a really robust and ongoing quarterly meetings. They drive a lot of that agenda with the emergency services. We always meet in the emergency services space. And then in turn, they are then able to drive what we need them to do, which is to drive more interest from the community into disaster dashboard, NISA alert, sign up, and then probably drive traffic to the site. Statistically, we've got a few figures here that we thought might be helpful in relation to some of that. The community awareness around the disaster dashboard and driving traffic to the site. So this is users only, not necessarily subscribers. So people have been into that case. So to give you an idea, 1,267 users in March of 24, and then the actual users is 28,594 one year later of March of this year. Now, we are aware that, of course, that meant we were full on TCL for it at the time. So there's a lot of interest and drive towards that.

00:14:00 So we're currently in our subscribers for the NISA dashboard too. We're looking at as full-time subscribers over 3,000. So we're trying to continually drive that through all our messaging. So how we measure it is generally going to be through subscribers. And the other thing that drives it are the packs themselves. These packs now contain, from all emergency services bar police, and that's getting done at the moment, is becoming basically the nesting point for all information for community. And that's coordinated out of council, which is kind of where we want it to be. And the demand on these is we're distributing about 5,000 of these a year, give or take. And we'll certainly, we're going to see that grow incrementally. But the beauty of it is all of these items QR code back to the disaster dashboard. So apart from measurement, it's around the idea of how parents of schools or aged care facility managers or community group leaders will then make, now make, I'm not hunting for engagement.

00:15:00 They're actually calling us to say, can you come and speak at lines, clubs, schools, whatever it ends up being. Councillor Phillips: Does that answer? It does. Yeah. Really. I've only got two more questions. This might be for you, Shaun. Can you tell us what are the hazards that council face, which would you say is our priority risk to Noosaville in the next year? Director Walsh: I'd just note that the strategy environment team provided a comprehensive report to council in December on the climate risks and I'll reference that in terms of having a long-term outcome. But we sort of agree that in terms of the high focus is flooding and coastal erosion is the most likely. And that's been well experienced in the past, as well as accelerating climate change. But we note that a fire and any associated heat waves and smoke hazards, noting our ageing community, is most likely the highest community risk due to non-conditioning of our local community. So we've got a good practice of flooding and storms, because we don't have a good practice of fires. And it can be related to heat stress and also smoke hazards.

00:16:00 And that's also compounded by our extent of housing in vegetative areas. So they're the ones that concern us the most. And I think, Sue, the recent earthquake we had was almost like an unrealised one. That's one that keeps me up all night. And the fact that you think that this part of the world isn't subject to earthquakes or tsunamis was just a really interesting note in the year. Speaker 6: It was, yeah. Particularly when a couple of weeks later there was an earthquake of a similar size in Afghanistan that had a very devastating impact on them, because it was in a mountainous region. Councillor Phillips: Final question. Just when we've spoken in other aspects of reports through Council about some staff turnover, how do we address that from that level of the staff that are trained? Yep. Speaker 6: So I don't actually keep figures of, unfortunately, I'm sorry, of when people actually leave. So I can't give you the actual exact figures. But I had a look at the list of people I currently still have on who are trained.

00:17:00 And I'd say that I've probably got about 75% to 80% retention. Which fits in kind of with Council's, our loss of staff, but also equates that we do lose some people in the LDCC, not because they're leaving Council, but because their family situation changes and they just can no longer commit to being involved in the LDCC. So I'd say it's around 75% to 80%. Director Walsh: And I think you noted also is that there's currently 69 staff on the LDCC staff list who are trained. Yeah. And ideally we would run three by eight-hour shifts. And we need 11 staff to run a shift. But we don't know of any Council that can achieve that, although during a lot of disaster due to resourcing. So, and noting that- Speaker 6: Sorry, all the Councils that I've spoken to at recent conferences, everybody is still only managing the 12-hour shifts. Director Walsh: Yeah. Right there. And noting that generally 50% of people on this can't attend any given time for multiple reasons as well. They might be on leave or they could be trapped by funding themselves.

00:18:00 Speaker 6: Should the need arise, there are also the Council to Council arrangements, which were heavily used by Northern Councils and the Western Councils during this season, where they were overwhelmed and needed assistance, they use Council to Council arrangements to have staff from South East Queensland Councils go and assist them in the area of the ECCs. So that if the need arose, we always have that option available to us as well. Councillor Phillips: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Councillor Finzel: Any further questions? Mayor Wilkie: Thank you, Madam Chair. It's just been raised, but it's worth noting that in recent times, the LDMG and the LDCC team have had to contend with fire, flood, storm, a global pandemic, and an earthquake, which is very sobering. And we've come through it. Thank you. The other thing that jumps out at me in this report is the other work that's going on in

00:19:00 the background since the 2022 flood event successfully attracted over $100 million in QRA funding to repair, oversee the repair of 31 landslips, including the biggest in the Shire and Sunshine Coast history. It's a $40 million job alone. And the loss damaged over 100 roads or more. We were very lucky with TC Tropical Cyclone Alfred in that it didn't hit, but it gave us the opportunity to have a really good rehearsal. So we got the opportunity to see how the centre worked at the depot. It gave us an opportunity to see where the pressure points were. And I think, Sue, your position, we realised there was a lot of pressure on you. And you've got, since the review, you've got a backup person now. Yes. Working on that. Yes. And Shaun, it was noted how you noticed some shortcomings in our interactive flood mapping system. And you were able to quickly adapt the system to provide that information.

00:20:00 Councillor Lorentson: That's correct. Mayor Wilkie: Also, I'm really glad the SES was noted in this report, because it became apparent during that operation how important they are to being able to provide that information to people. They are going to be relying on more and more. So I'm really glad they're getting the accolades that they deserve and the recognition they deserve through this report. And also, Ian, thank you for the work you do. You're out there all the time, interfacing with the community, providing them with the information they need to prepare for fire season, fire and storm season. So thank you very much. Thank you. Now, it's been a... Thank you for your support.

00:21:00 It's my first time as chair of the LDMG, and I've appreciated seeing how professional the attendees are and their contributions. And it's... The LDMG has been well... The Noosa LDMG has been well-regarded long before I arrived here. And it's good to see that continuing. And I'm glad to have an experienced deputy chair and Councillor Jessica Phillips on hand as well with her experience. It's been great. Speaker 1: Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: So thank you for the report. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a question? Director Walsh: No. Mayor Wilkie: No, there's... You're just speaking to the staff. Yeah. The notable points. Thank you, Madam Chair. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Councillor? No. Mayor Wilkie: I'm happy to move it, Madam Chair. Councillor Finzel: Oh, I just have a few questions. Yes, of course. Thank you. Firstly, yeah, thank you. It was a really comprehensive and good report to read. And I'd like to extend my thanks and gratitude for the great work you do on behalf of the

00:22:00 community. It's really to be commended. And it was great reading the report to see all the work that you've undertaken, especially the engagement with reaching out to schools, the aged care sector and nursing homes, coming up with the local resilience action plan. I mean, I don't have to tell you guys what you're doing. You're doing a great job. I'm just highlighting, you know, the benefits back to community on the ground where we are. Particularly to me is, you know, in Pomona and the sandbags. I mean, that's been a long iteration for Pomona and Curran and it's great to see that, you know, that's mentioned in the report and those steps have been taken towards that. So just on the ground, the great work that you're doing. We've got the, you know, the toilet block now, the infrastructure in there, which has been, you know, in the pipeline for so long. So it's just wonderful to see the work that you're coordinating and bringing the community along the journey. And that dashboard, it's great. Now, whenever something comes, get on Facebook, I direct people to the dashboard. And I always get great thanks from the community to, you know, lead people to that, to get

00:23:00 that information. And especially that collaboration and you're bringing everybody on board and, you know, you're really leaders in the space. And I just really commend everyone for what you're doing there. I just have a question around, it was mentioned in the attachment that there's talk about a hazard and risk task force. What's that about? It was in the attachment. Is that something you're looking to, like, build or? That was a recommendation from one of the cyclists in the review. Yeah, what was that? There was some mention around the university. Speaker 6: Yes, that would have been one of the technical. We did have the university provide us with assistance because we don't have an on-staff hydrology team. The university provided us with some assistance, particularly with the storm tide mapping. Councillor Finzel: Oh, okay. Speaker 6: And there are some recommendations in there that just need some further clarification with Cheyenne and the university.

00:24:00 Councillor Finzel: Oh, that's great. Thank you. That's why I asked. Yes. I'm not quite sure what. Yeah, that's great. Also, there was another question in that list as well. Pomona Depot, the need for a permanently based generator. Where are we at with that? Is it around, is that budget or? Speaker 6: No, that one, along with the permanently based generators for the evacuation centres, will require budget. So, we'll be looking for grant applications or putting up a project initiation in future budget, consideration of future budgets. Councillor Finzel: Fantastic. Speaker 6: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: What else? I don't have any other questions. Councillor Lorentson. Councillor Lorentson: Hi. Just a question in regards to Daintree Estate. I'm noted and grateful. There's a new initiative, a tailored community disaster preparedness information document. Can you relay how that's going to improve personal emergency planning and preparedness for the

00:25:00 community? Does that mean there's going to be new alert systems? Can you just give me some information? Director Walsh: So, probably, I'll lead the charge on this. Ideally, a community like that, which is surrounded by forest and also construction, is going to have a community subgroup with the relevant community leaders appointed, so they can actually organise themselves. The nature of that community, because there is no town hall or no sort of shopping centre or anything like that, means it's quite hard to actually establish a traditional subgroup, like Pomona or Kin Kin, which are more relevant, structured sort of society. So, we started a new initiative that once a year will actually drop off almost like an abridged community subplan in the form of an information sheet. That information sheet articulates what the risks are in terms of drainage and flooding and also fire. It gives them all the tools to actually better prepare themselves for those seasons, so they actually can self-initiate where to get the relevant alerts on our disaster dashboards and also to sign up for alerts.

00:26:00 They can sign up for alerts now. They don't need a tailored alert system. They just need to tap into our existing alert system and get their awareness and their discussion, because we know the first thing about resilience is actually talking about it and actually communicating with your neighbours about your circumstances. And also having backup plans, you know, how to collect the kids from school and stuff like that. So, that's the best thing we can do at this point. We suspect that there might be some further discussion with the community once we release that information sheet, and they may wish to, you know, coordinate themselves to form this community subgroup, and we'll be able to be there to support them through that process. Is that a good summary, Sue and Ian? Yes. So, yeah. Councillor Finzel: Thank you very much. Sounds good. Thank you. Oh. Councillor Phillips: I'm happy to move the report, and then I've got something to speak. Councillor Finzel: Okay. Councillor Phillips: I'd like to speak on it, if there's any questions. Councillor Finzel: All right. Thank you. I'm happy to second. Would you like to speak to that, Councillor? I would like to. Councillor Phillips: Yes, please. Councillor Finzel: Of course. Councillor Phillips: First of all, after 15 years in the police, I have absolute confidence in the room where

00:27:00 we stand up for LDMG, and that's a reflection on the group. I think communities should really feel confident, even when we face disaster, that that room is completely surrounded by experts in the room, and it's great that the relationship is through, even if it's just one person. The Cyclone Alfred was a good way to sort of come back together, and see how we are working. I really appreciated the review, Shaun, that you did with the group. I think that was a really great highlight of being able to reflect on lessons learnt, and it's also, from a leadership point of view, I really respected when we can say things that weren't done well, and divert, and look at the next time. So, I appreciate that. After coming to the Australian National New Zealand Disaster Management Conference with

00:28:00 Ian, that was an incredible experience, and I want to thank Council for letting me go to that, and highlight your position in what you do in community, because from a national point of view, the thing that I got from those days was, it's going to be a community that are really committed to the community. We are resilient through disaster. We can have a great LBMG, and all of that expert, and that confidence in that room, but it'll be the community that gets through a disaster. So, in absolute sincerity in what you're doing in community, and bringing them on the journey is how we'll be safe through anything that we face in the future. So, please continue doing what you're doing. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you. Councillor Phillips: It's respected. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you very much. Councillor Finzel: I'm happy to take it to the vote, or you would like to write a reply. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: I don't know if I can say much more, except the whole purpose of this process is to keep

00:29:00 the community safe, and a well-informed community is a safe community. One thing we haven't mentioned before is the communications with the community. The amount of people that turned up, and were engaging, and were getting their sandbags early, showed that there was a high level of awareness in the community about the impending weather threat. So, that's testament to our comms team, the work you're doing in the community, Ian, and the LBMG, and Shaun, and Sue, of course. Thank you. So, again, can't thank you enough. And I also respect the commitment to continuous improvement that was evidenced through the review, and some of the suggestions that were made. Thank you. It's an honour to be part of it. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Yeah. I'd just like to add to that, too.

00:30:00 We always talk about, you know, engendering trust in our community, and often that sits at an all-time low. But I must say, your team, and when you step up to these disasters, and also for people that address the reconstruction post the disasters, I think our community is at an all-time step closer to building that trust, and those relationships that, you know, when the rubber hits the road, we all step up and work together for the collective good. So, thank you for that. Thank you. Thanks. You're welcome. And thank you for your report today. So, we'll take it to the vote. All in favour? Thank you. That's unanimous. Thank you very much. Speaker 6: Well done. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. So, with that, we are... Oh, you may leave the table. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: You're welcome. Councillor Finzel: I know Shaun has to stay. So, we're moving on now to item 7.2, the Noosa Botanic Gardens Master Plan.

00:31:00 We welcome Shaun. You're here. Thank you. And Geordie. Councillor Wilson: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: You're welcome. So, who's giving the overview? Director Walsh: I just actually wanted to do a bit of a prelude to then handing over to Geordie, because I was thinking about this the last couple of days. And so, we're a member of the Australian New Zealand Botanic Gardens Association. And I sort of tapped into, you know, their views about what makes, why a botanic garden is important. And, you know, they've got a great list of, you know, environmental benefits, like conservation of biodiversity, seed banks and research, urban cooling and air quality, pollinator support. But then, educational benefits of botanic gardens, public education, school and university partnerships, citizen science, where visitors can participate in plant monitoring and conservation efforts. Very significantly, health and well-being, you know, the mental health of green spaces, reducing stress, anxiety and depression, physical activity, encouraging exercise, and then therapeutic horticulture for rehabilitation therapy. Then there's the culture and recreational values, such as agriculture.

7.2 Noosa Botanic Gardens Master Plan ¶

▶ 00:31:09· Carried 4-0 from council's minutes

00:32:00 Art and culture, tourism and community engagement, particularly volunteer opportunities, fostering community spirit. And then scientific research, you know, plant science and taxonomy, and then climate change studies. And I thought that's a really good context, because what we're at a phase with the Noosa Botanic Gardens is really realising its benefits or its opportunities on behalf of the community. Because when we started this process, we actually didn't even know how many people visited the gardens. So we, you know, this is, it's a community, it was originally a community land enterprise. So we put out traffic monitors just for cars. We did it in May and November last year. And assuming, you know, 1.5 passengers per vehicle, that equates to a visitation of 180,000 people per year to the Denny Gardens in its current format, which is significant when you compare it to our suite of other recreation and cultural facilities. So I see that that's the context that we're really thinking, well, this is such a valuable facility on behalf of our residents in our community. And that's really set the tone of this master plan, which is, well, how do we cultivate

00:33:00 that even more? So, and actually answer their desires and their aspirations with this space. So I'll hand over to Joy. Yeah. Thank you, Shaun. Speaker 4: Thank you. Yeah. So I used to go past this site as a school child, riding from Cooroy through to go and slide on the spillway at Lake McDonald there on some hiff and sacks. It was only five years ago. And it used to be, yeah. It didn't seem that long ago. Yeah, you were one of those red bags. It was an overgrown dumping ground at the time. And in that short space of my short life, we've seen it develop so much. And that's a testament to the volunteers and council to develop it to this stage. And as Shaun said, it is highly valued in our community for a whole range of reasons. But the question is, how do we continue to improve? How do we continue to maintain the gardens going forward if we don't know what people want and we don't have a plan? So I'm very excited and I'm very proud to have developed and present to council a draft

00:34:00 plan for your endorsement. Consideration endorsement for the next round of public consultation. We have listened to the community. We've done a lot of listening throughout the last year. We have had pop-ups in the park. We've had online surveys. We've had stakeholder reference groups internal. We've had external stakeholder groups. And we've had a lot of one-on-one sessions as well with interested parties, with community groups. We've had friends off groups and the like. And along the way, we've developed various versions of the draft and we've finally come up with a plan which we've put to the various stakeholder groups and we're now in a position where we can present to council. So as a result of all of that, we've found out essentially what people love about the gardens currently and what sort of things that we should improve on. So a few of the major features of the draft plan.

00:35:00 First of all, I should say that we created a vision for the plan, which was a new vision and it built on the vision that was previously put to council in 2017. But the new vision is to cultivate a vibrant botanic garden that reflects community values, working with nature now and for the future. We think that sets the tone very well for the master plan and under that we have some objectives and some of those developments proposed. So the plan is a 25 year plan. It's not a promise that we're going to deliver everything within the next term of council or within a set period of time. It's just saying as we develop the gardens in time, these are the types of things we can do. And it's not detailed. So if we need to move a pathway, if we need to change things around slightly, we can do that. If we need to change the planning slightly later on, we can do that. It's really just setting a plan for the future. So as council gets capital money, operational money, can tap into funding, we've got things

00:36:00 that we can do within the gardens and develop the gardens according to a plan, which is a good thing. So the major features of the plan, first one was preservation enhancement of our botanic collection, which is very important. It is a botanic garden. Improved visitor entry experience, which includes a drop off area. We had some feedback around that there was multiple entrances to the gardens and we didn't have that feel of the entrance. And it also includes a community facility. There was quite a lot of feedback around wanting some sort of commercial offerings like teas, coffees, but also places that people can go for meetings and also get information. So there is a small community meeting facility within the plan at that entrance feature area. We have primary facilities. We have three accessible grade pathways around the botanic gardens. So it's the main loops around the gardens. So people with accessibility issues can go around those loops.

00:37:00 We have activity zones, including a playground in the botanic gardens as well. At the moment, it's separated from the botanic gardens to the north end. And we have cultural heritage considerations as well. So as you will read through the draft master plan, you'll see that there are a number of, a whole range of developments and improvements that are planned around all of those things and including legibility and signage and other things, education within the plan. So the plan's presented for council's consideration. The next stage, if you endorse this for further public consultation, we will do some more pop ups in the park. We'll put some posters out. We'll put it in the paper. We'll put online surveys. We'll put it back to the stakeholder reference groups, the internal and the external stakeholder groups, and then do some more consultation with each of those individual groups as well. We will then come back to council, revise the plan, come back to council again for, with

00:38:00 a summary of that engagement, submissions received, and then hopefully for public adoption. Councillor Finzel: Fantastic. Thank you. What a great overview. It's a very exciting day. It is. It really is. It's been great. As the chair of the stakeholder group. It's been a wonderful experience to come along that journey. And it's been a really good reflection, I think, of the voices in the community and coming together around the table and everyone engaging that and see the, all the different iterations and the ups and downs and, and especially with the Friends of the Gardens to ensure like their highest goal that they wanted to see was the protection of their collection. And I don't think we've managed to keep that at the central focus of, of what they're doing and what we want to achieve at the gardens. So that's great. So I'm happy to move the, the recommendation.

00:39:00 Mayor Wilkie: I'll second it. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. I think everything's been said. Would anyone like any questions before I speak to it? Councillor Phillips: Just one quick question. Just to understand the process, I, around, it didn't come to that stakeholder reference group before it goes out. Is that our normal process that a draft would go to consultation before it comes back to the reference group, the, not endorsement, but just for, they've kind of, kind of come on that journey. And I just want to understand that a little bit more. Director Walsh: So the, every stakeholder reference group has a different terms of reference. So the terms of reference that this group says that they don't have approval rights, so they're used throughout the process as a sounding board to actually form the views. This draft is very much consistent with what was presented to the last stakeholder reference group. But after that stakeholder reference group, we had some specific submissions from some key stakeholders that raised a couple of points. And we sat down with them, Julie did, and worked through those key points.

00:40:00 So, and we also engage with Kabi Kabi in terms of a walk over country to get their viewpoints. So I'm confident that this plan largely reflects the views of the stakeholder reference group. And the views, the changes were sort of forecast in the submission from the key stakeholders anyway. So the stakeholder is also really clear that, you know, this is a draft. And in my email to them, I've said that next stage is really, you know, using through your networks and your members to see whether we've got the draft right. So I think my own view is, I think if we put on the notion that they had some sort of approval entity over the plan, it makes it less, it makes it more difficult for them to engage meaningfully with this next phase. Does that make sense? So we've deliberately taken control of the process as council officers engaging across everywhere. We've got some fantastic feedback and contributions to take on the reference group, but ultimately we're putting this forward for council's endorsement as a draft and welcome their robust views and

00:41:00 submissions. They're not tied to what they said. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. Yeah. Councillor Finzel: Fantastic. You're welcome. Any further questions? Not a question. Mayor Wilkie: In the report, what is the intended period for public consultation? The length and the dates? Director Walsh: So it's regarded as a tier two, so it's not necessarily the same emphasis as destination management plan. No. So we're thinking about a month, you know. So, but we're fairly flexible with that. We've had a very flexible timeframe with this document. We want to get it right. And it might be that there's a formal period for submissions, but we'll also want to schedule in meetings with any of the groups to go and visit their members and actually give presentations and the like. And if that needs to take longer than a month and they need an extra time to make a submission, Mayor Wilkie: we're okay with that. So as long as the key stakeholders are engaged and you get their feedback, that's... Yeah. Speaker 4: And there are some events planned in the Botanic Gardens later on in the year as well, which we'd like to tap into as well.

00:42:00 Yeah. Tap into so we can be out there and do some pop-up engagement with the public that come along as well. Director Walsh: Yeah. But when... Because the community team are, you know, focused on other matters at the moment, and when they come up for air, we'll sit down and draft out the final details of the community engagement plan. I'm very happy to share that with councillors so you're fully aware of what that program is. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. I think it's great. I think we should finish where we started, which was the mission, to cultivate a vibrant botanical garden that reflects the community's values, working with nature now and for the future. So I think it's been a great body of work. I think it's great today we're going to now roll on into Paul coming with us with the cultural plan. The gardens is very much part of the Noosa Shire story and our narrative, so we'll just keep building on that moving forward and leaving beautiful spaces for future generations to enjoy and live our legacy. So thank you so much today.

00:43:00 All right. We'll take it to the vote. All in favour? That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Thank you, George. Thank you, Shaun. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. We're moving now to item 7.3 on the agenda, Noosa Cultural Plan 2025 to 2030 for adoption and we welcome staff member Mr Paul Brinkman and we've got Kerri Contini with us as well today. Thank you and welcome. We're excited to hear about this draft coming before us for recommendation and looking forward to hearing him over here. Speaker 5: Thank you Councillor Finzel. So I'll just read a bit of a statement before we launch into any questions. This is a really exciting plan. It's been over 18 months in the making so it's great to finally get it in front of Council. The 2025-30 Noosa Cultural Plan builds on the foundations of the 2019-2023 Cultural Plan and is the result of over 18 months of research, consultation and strategic thinking.

7.3 Noosa Cultural Plan 2025-2030 Adoption ¶

▶ 00:43:28· Carried 4-0 from council's minutes

00:44:00 The plan is future focused and responds to the needs and needs of the community. The project of the Cultural Plan is aаться the needs of the community and wants of the cultural sector as expressed by individuals, groups, collectives and organisations working across the region. The Cultural Plan sits under the Council's Corporate Plan 2023-2028 and is centred around the five key themes of valuing our history and heritage, enabling inclusion and access, championing our creative community, activating our places and spaces and engaging our community and visitors. The Cultural Plan also aligns with the Queensland Community And Welfare Act. Thank you to all of you who have contributed to Queensland Government's Creative Together 2020-2030 10 Year Roadmap for Arts, Culture and Creativity in Queensland and the Revive National Cultural Policy. The Cultural Plan is ambitious, aspirational and inspiring, reflecting the dynamism of Noosa's creatives. It plots a path outlining how Council can be a driving force in its support of the creative and cultural sector of our region,

00:45:00 and in doing so support a healthy, engaged and resilient community with a prosperous arts and cultural ecosystem. I take this opportunity to thank the many individuals and groups who provided their considered input into the Plan's development. Councillor Finzel: That's fantastic. Great overview, Paul. Thank you. And I'd like to extend my thanks to the work that you've done in that place and led the charge on that. Given you're, Aileen, you in this role and to the region, I think you've really captured the spirit of, you know, the Noosa Shire, embodied our story and our vision, and it is reflected in the report. So thank you for your diligence and the hard work that you've done together with, you know, the broader community and the staff. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right, I'd like to move the motion that we... Can I ask some questions first? Yes, of course. Oh, you can move first, but... Yeah, happy to move it. One second. Thank you. Questions, please. Thank you.

00:46:00 Councillor Wilson: Sorry that I didn't raise this earlier. It's just been brought to my attention today. But the report talks about responding to the digital explosion in our area. But I didn't know if I could really see that reflected in the actual plan. And specifically, there is one photograph from our Peregian Digital Hub, but it's not actually mentioned in our places or... So should that be something that should be... Included? And even within the internal stakeholder communication things as well, that wasn't included in there? So is there maybe something missing in terms of the digital element of the sector? Speaker 5: The Peregian Digital Hub has been used on occasions for creative sector development events and learnings. We have had feedback from the community, though, to say that our creative sector

00:47:00 is significantly ahead of the curve in regards to AI. And this isn't not typical of... Artists and creatives are often the first to embrace new technologies. So the feedback that we did when we did do our workshops at the Peregian Digital Hub was that artists are really looking to have the tools to explore their own expressions into AI and new technologies. And so we've taken the tact of what are ways in which we can support artists by actually going out and finding their own opportunities to learn and expand their knowledge in that space. And so we've come around to our RADF program, our Regional Arts Development Fund, and also our community funding programs to have an emphasis on new technologies and artists being able to have the capabilities

00:48:00 to go and explore those spaces. So I think, yes, we're not overtly talking about the Peregian Digital Hub because the feedback from the community is that, yes, that's a fantastic facility for us to have, but it's not necessarily serving the purposes of creative industries. And the feedback that we got from our community was we actually really need the opportunity to come to Council and when opportunities arise, how can you support us? So the $2000 quick response grant that we've started this year is a perfect example of ways in which artists can explore new technologies because it is very much about that dynamism of grabbing opportunities when they come up. And we've already had a couple of applications into that quick response grant program where artists are looking to expand their skills in new technologies by doing these external courses elsewhere. Speaker 7: I think this shows how things move quite quickly.

00:49:00 So the previous cultural plan had a specific element which was around the digital future, and it shows how much things have changed now that almost that's business as usual for our creatives and it permeates everything that they're doing now, whether it's in their art form or in their way that they're trying to deliver that and develop a commercial return off it. So it kind of moves through everything now. It's a big shift between the two plans. Speaker 5: I'm thinking now maybe that digital explosion that we were talking about is maybe more apt to our previous presentation on disaster management because it is literally an explosion every day. There's more opportunities for us to engage. In the AI space, it's huge at the moment. So it's very hard to write into a five-year plan because in five years' time, it's scary what we're going to be looking at. Yeah, yeah.

00:50:00 Councillor Wilson: Just another question on the engagement process as well. How extensive was that and how were people reached? Speaker 5: At the end of last year, we engaged Craig Consulting, who you might know from the Pomona placemaking work. We engaged them to do some feedback and some vox popping to our creative community. After we received their report back, we also tabled a presentation to Council on the report of the 2019-2023 results. We combined all of that and then we went back to having multiple meetings and workshops at the J where we called people in to give feedback and then we followed up with one-on-ones and talking to organisations and community groups on that space as well. So, yes, over the last 18 months, we've worked quite hard on that. We've engaged with Kabi Kabi on numerous occasions. We are still waiting for Kabi Kabi.

00:51:00 They've said that they'd like to give us a small stanza at the start of the document. So because of various reasons, Aunty Helena Goulash hasn't been able to provide that to us just yet. But you'll note that in the presentation that we do ask permission from the CEO for us to be able to slot that in when it comes into the plan. Speaker 7: This is an example where we're not so much doing, you know, broad-scale community engagement with the whole community. We are... Because a lot of their input comes through other consultation that we're doing. So when we did corporate plan, when we did promoted place plan, when we did livability, the theme around arts and culture comes through quite strongly from the general community. And so in preparing a plan like this, there's a whole range of stakeholders, whether they're individual artists or arts organisations or industry representatives or state government, et cetera. So it's very deep around all the various challenges

00:52:00 across many different art forms. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Any further questions? Mayor Wilkie: Well, just to follow on through the question that Councillor Wilson raised, mainly through the efforts of the Sunshine Coast Screen Collective, the Sunshine Coast Screen Collective and Sunshine Coast and Noosa Region are on the verge of having their own film industry become established here. How is that captured in here or where does that sit in relation to the cultural plan? Speaker 5: Again, we've had a number of applications to our annual RADF program for that. So when you look at the guidelines in our RADF guidelines, that is something that we are highlighting as a support area we're looking at. I just met with a filmmaker this morning, actually, and there's great demand for streaming services for content at the moment, particularly Australian content. So it's this fantastic situation where you've got people baying at the door for content. We just aren't able to produce enough content.

00:53:00 So, yeah, that's the challenge. It's not that you create content and then you're plying it around to try and find someone to buy it. There's plenty of buyers out there. It's just about finding the content. So we do want to support very much filmmaking industries. At the same time, it's a very expensive undertaking and it requires a lot of risk. So something that should come through in the report also is that we need to work within our means. We would love to be everything to everybody, but we have limited budget, we have limited capabilities. We do have a number of spaces and so our big focus at the moment is enabling our spaces to assist in creatives who need to use that space. So we're looking at the J, we're looking at the gallery, we're looking at our other community spaces to see how we can utilise those facilities to enable, be better enablers to our creative community

00:54:00 because we don't really have the cash resources to support everybody in the way that we would like to. Mayor Wilkie: And it's very timely this report comes before us today because there's filming going on for a national pilot taking place at the Tewantin Noosa Bowls Club today. Perfect, exactly. Speaker 7: One of the, I guess, remaining pieces out of the first cultural plan, so 2019 to 2023, that really hadn't been implemented to the depths that I would like was in our cultural development space, so supporting our arts industry. And that's what I was looking for when I recruited to the manager's role because Paul brings a real strength to not just general cultural development but being able for our emerging artists to transition through to a professional status which is really critical. That's very hard to do. But really we have Paul who's managing a whole lot of facilities as well

00:55:00 and we've got a three day a week cultural development officer. So we have to think carefully about where we put our efforts into and I appreciate what Paul's doing at the moment, prioritising things, looking at our facilities and how we can best support the arts industry through our facilities first and putting efforts into where we can make an appreciable difference. Mayor Wilkie: And the strategy through the RADF process is working already. You often hear anecdotal stories of artists who have received RADF support through Noosa Council are now exhibiting overseas and their careers really take off. Speaker 5: We've got a fantastic application that we've just approved for an artist over in Japan who was offered the opportunity by a master ceramicist to work in his studio. Invitation only. Had to have an answer within a month on whether they were able to take it over. They applied directly to the RADF quick response grant. We're able to provide assistance straight away and that artist, from learning those skills,

00:56:00 will bring those skills back. Speaker 7: And they wouldn't have been able to have that opportunity without our small contribution. So it makes a huge difference. Huge difference. Councillor Finzel: Just a comment on that. At the Tall Trees Art Exhibition on the weekend there was about three local artists that were mentioned, there's probably more, that exhibited their work that had come through the RADF and have gone overseas to pursue their careers and this is exactly, I think, the vision that we want to see for the Shire is that, you know, we have this economic sector through the creative industries that actually empower people to those careers. Coming back to a point around the, like, the technology, just noting that in Floating Land we had Experimenter Emergency Exhibition. Would you like to comment a little bit about that, around that opportunity to give our artists, you know, to create a work that reflects technology and the frontier of art? Speaker 5: Certainly. I hope some of you were able to go and see that show because it was an absolutely fantastic show.

00:57:00 And that was a touring show and this is one of the great values of having a regional gallery that's able to take touring shows because we can actually take cutting edge artworks that are well and truly outside of our region and bring them into our region and our local artists can actually see what's happening around Australia without having to travel all over the place to see it. The workshops that we ran from that were fully booked out. Great numbers for that show. So for me that's really heartening to show that there's a real appetite and hunger to see more technology works. That show, interestingly, is a touring show but by the time that show ends the technology that was cutting edge when it started is going to be antiquated. So, yeah, fascinating things. We also did the river cruises where we did the sound work, underwater sound work that came back to the work that was in that space. Fantastic environmental linkages there

00:58:00 with new technologies using the latest in underwater recording devices and translating that into artwork. So really strong environmental themes which sit so beautifully with Noosa and what we're trying to do in Noosa from an environmental protection standpoint as well. Yeah. Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. And Leah Barclay, the artist in Northern, is a really good example of, you know, supporting our artists in their journey as it takes a long time to move through that professional process and to see the quality of work that she is producing is amazing. Speaker 5: And a Sunshine Coast artist that basically came from working in the Amazon recently. Yeah. To coming to Noosa and doing the same work here in the Noosa River as she was doing in the Amazon. So, yeah, amazing global connections there. Councillor Finzel: That's fantastic. All right. Councillor Lorentson, did you have a question?

00:59:00 Councillor Lorentson: Just a follow-up on Councillor Nicola Lawson's question. In terms of the bridge in digital park, it has significantly contributed to Noosa's creative and digital future. And not just in AI, this animation, game development, interactive media, is there a plan to include future art forms and digital culture in the next iteration of the cultural plan? I'm just thinking in terms of supporting our younger creatives. Speaker 5: Yes, there are, but as I said previously, the programming around the digital hub really are resourcing at the moment. We need to look very closely at how we can resource high quality cutting edge training in the preaching digital hub. Because as I said, the feedback that we're getting from our arts community that have attended some of those sessions are saying that they need to be further ahead of the curve.

01:00:00 And what's being provided in that space. So yes, definitely we want to work closely with the digital hub and we continue to do so. But it's about how do we find and how do we keep up to speed with the technologies that our creatives are using, which is often two or three steps ahead of what our general populace is using. So that's the challenge that we're facing with the digital hub. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. I'm happy to take it to the vote. Thank you. That was a great question and answer session. Do you have anything further to add? Councillor Wilson: Yes. Oh, sorry. I just wanted to thank you for the plan. I've asked my questions, but just to speak to the motion. We have moved the motion, haven't we? Yes, we have. You're free to speak. And one of the big things for me is the references to being inclusive and accessible and not just in the ways that we

01:01:00 normally speak to in terms of disabilities and diversity and things, but also just in making sure that we have experiences that are free to attend or low-cost workshops and those kind of things that you've been talking about before. So going to see exhibitions for free, getting involved in things like Floating Land, because there's sometimes a perception that art is for the elite, or it's just for the artists, the arty people, and just making sure that everyone gets a chance to enjoy art in all its forms, whether it's art in the gallery or whether it's performing arts and music. So just, yeah, I really like the idea that it's really trying to reach everybody and not just to be high cost ticketing and things. And paintings for thousands of dollars, but the things that are free and for the whole community. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Any further comments? Then we'll take it to the vote. All in favour? That's unanimous.

01:02:00 Thank you. Thank you very much. Keep up the good work. Thank you. Thank you very much. Looking forward to seeing it in action. Thank you. Thank you. Just to note that Councillor Phillips has to, she's got responsibilities with family, which family comes first, and she's leaving the meeting table, but we'll jump online and continue with the meeting process. Having said that, we're moving into item 7.4, and we welcome to the table Staff Member John C Wolfe to review the Audit and Risk Committee Charter and review of the Internal Audit and Risk Committee Charter. Speaker 3: Good afternoon. Councillor Finzel: Welcome. Good afternoon. Speaker 3: Thank you. Good afternoon. Councillor Finzel: Okay. Speaker 3: I'll provide you then with a high-level overview of this item. So this report seeks Council's adoption of two revised documents. One is the Audit and Risk Committee Charter, and the other one is the Internal Audit Policy. These documents set out the framework, how the Audit and Risk Committee operates, and

7.4 REVIEW OF THE AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE CHARTER & REVIEW OF THE INTERNAL AUDIT POLICY ¶

▶ 01:02:26· Carried 4-0 from council's minutes

01:03:00 how Council undertakes Internal Audit and Risk Committee Charter. Both documents are subject to routine annual review, and so there are minor improvements to wording and structure in both documents. However, further improvements have been made, and they stem from an internal audit and the advice from the Queensland Audit Office. Regarding the Audit and Risk Committee Charter, these changes include increasing the term of independent committee members from two to three years, which is considered better practice. So previously it was three by two years, and now it's two by three years. The final tenure is still six years in both scenarios. Then amending the meeting forum from three to two, which was inaccurate in the Charter before. This is half the committee members.

01:04:00 In our case, the Audit and Risk Committee has four members, so it's two. And in response to advice from the Queensland Audit Office, the responsibilities of the committee have also been expanded for the review and oversight of corporate culture, performance management and reporting, the security of council systems and information, significant projects and outsourcing, and business continuity planning. Further to that, the wording was strengthened for sections dealing with confidentiality, conflict of interest and internal controls. Finally, the definitions were also expanded. They are at the latter part of the Charter to assist the reader in a better understanding of the Charter. Those are the more significant changes to the Charter.

01:05:00 And then the internal audit policy has seen a few changes as well. However, the main body of the policy has not changed. What has changed are the terms of reference to provide some further clarification. These relate to the internal audit methodology. It's highlighting the methodologies to be applied in the audit process. The internal auditing process to improve how audit recommendations are implemented. These recommendations are structured and actioned just to standardize the process. That any report from internal auditors follows the same standard and makes it very clear to staff to understand. Also, the responsibilities were clarified to clarify the responsibilities of the CEO, Audit and Risk Committee, and Council at large, the operational teams. Very importantly, the management actions to clarify the responsibilities for the implementation of the audit process.

01:06:00 And the implementation of internal audit recommendations. Because if those are not implemented, then that defies the purpose of an internal audit in the first place. The final section that was amended is the evaluation of the internal audit performance to monitor internal audit performance and client satisfaction. So that we also seek feedback from the audited areas of the performance of the internal auditors to ensure that we actually have received a good service. That concludes pretty much the major changes of these two documents and available for questions if there are any. Councillor Finzel: Thank you, Johnsy. Thank you for your report. Just noting that Council and Lorentzen left the gallery at 2.35 p.m. Do we have any questions? No, thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's great to have you here.

01:07:00 The policy and the charter and the improvements. I guess the purpose of having an Audit and Risk Committee is to ensure that risk is managed within the organisation. How are these changes, what are the principal changes that will improve the way we manage risk? How will it improve the way we manage our risk? To help ensure that the recommendations that come from the Audit and Risk Committee are acted upon? Speaker 3: It is, first of all, with the Audit and Risk Committee charter that it clarifies the roles and responsibilities and also provides further oversight for which areas the Audit and Risk Committee has oversight. There's an expansion of that. As I said, corporate culture, performance management and significant projects. Business continuity planning, so they'll be added. And then obviously then in terms of the internal audit policy, these are exactly the changes that were made.

01:08:00 First of all, changes to how we conduct the internal auditing. It provides advice on the methodology, so we make sure that auditing is conducted the way to standard. Then how it's reported on, that's the change as well. And also how the actions are implemented. So this provides them... Mayor Wilkie: More clarity. Speaker 3: Yeah, provides more clarity. And the internal audit plan is, or the oversight for that, lies with the Audit and Risk Committee. And they will then take the internal audit policy, apply that and enact it. So that's how the risk is managed. In terms of identifying high risk areas, develop an internal audit plan. Ensuring that audits are conducted. And then that any recommendations stemming from those audits are implemented.

01:09:00 And that goes further with Audit and Risk Committee also then reviews the strategic risk register, for example. And the strategic risk register informs the internal audit plan as well. Mayor Wilkie: And the CEO sits on the Audit and Risk Committee. That's correct. So that's linked to the organisation. Speaker 3: Absolutely. Yeah. Speaker 2: And we ensure that the recommendations are... Yeah. And through our Governors. I don't sit on the Committee, but I attend the meetings. Yeah. You attend the meetings. Yes. Happy to move it. Mayor Wilkie: Okay. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Our second. I just have a question through to the CEO. This looks like, you know, continuous improvement, which is fantastic. That will enhance clarity of roles, strengthen accountability, and support Council in maintaining robust oversight. Just in brief, how do you feel that moving forward that is going to, you know, help with

01:10:00 good governance? And how do you see this as the benefit to the organisation? Speaker 2: Well, it's... As Johnsey said, it's an annual review. So it's really just reviewing, topping up where we think we need to develop some strength, further strength in this. Or make sure that we adhere to any regulation changes. So, you know, I have to say, we'll start ordinarily. Already, we do a very good job with our Audit and Risk Committee. I think we're very strong in that area. Our risk profile is very, very well managed. And so I'm comfortable. We always get a good feedback from the Risk Committee and the external members of that group, as well as our own Council members. So I'm very comfortable that we've got a good foundation. This is really just building on it, making sure that we stay up to date and continue to do as best we can. Councillor Finzel: Yeah.

01:11:00 That's great. Thank you. Any further comments? No. Okay. We'll take that to the vote. That's unanimous. All in favour? Thank you. And a yes from Jess. I'm blind. Thank you, Jess. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Enjoy your afternoon. Thank you for the report. Speaker 3: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Thanks, Chelsea. Speaker 3: Thanks, Jess. Councillor Finzel: So that takes us up to Agenda Item 8, Reports for Noting by the Committee. There is nil. Yep. Number 9, Confidential Session, nil. That brings us to Item 10, which is Meeting Closure. And I can say the meeting's closed at 2.42 p.m. Thank you, Councillors. Thank you, Mr. Chair and the staff. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Jess. Councillor Finzel: Thank you.

8 REPORTS FOR NOTING BY THE COMMITTEE ¶

▶ 01:11:41

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.

9 CONFIDENTIAL SESSION ¶

▶ 01:11:46

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.