2021-03-15 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                 15 MARCH 2021


   6 Mile creek which feeds into the Mary River and finally into the Great Sandy Strait marine
   park.
   Approximately 750m of this creek line dissects the golf course and the proposed
   development site, with 130m upstream in lot 2. The Noosa Plan 2006 assigns a riparian
   buffer protection overlay of 75m each side of the creek whilst the Noosa Plan 2020 assigns
   a 100m buffer to each side of the creek. The larger buffer is a result of the State’s
   requirements to protect creek lines which flow into Mary River system. The proposed
   development significantly intrudes into these riparian buffers as identified in Figure 19 below.
   This unnamed tributary of the 6 Mile Creek system provides habitat values for threatened
   fauna species. The site contains habitat suitable for state and commonwealth threatened
   species such as the Giant Barred Frog, Tusked frog, Cascade Tree Frog and possibly the
   Green Thighed Frog. Platypus have been reported at the golf club and the site contains
   suitable habitat. Koalas, Tusked frogs and Giant Barred Frogs have been reported within
   1km of the site.
   The provision of a bridge crossing in this location will accelerate bank erosion and cause bed
   lowering due to constraining high flows at the bridge. Bank erosion will lead to destabilisation
   of existing trees and cause tree falls, thus further accelerating bank erosion. Loss of
   vegetation and destabilisation of the banks will increase light penetration into the waterway,
   increase sediments and degrade in-stream and riparian habitat values in-situ and
   downstream. Rock armament will result in loss of suitable habitat for threatened species.
   Furthermore the provision of dwellings, a sewerage pump station, holding tanks and auxiliary
   power supply, RV storage area and road and footpath network within the riparian buffer area
   sterilises the area for future ecological habitat restoration intended by the planning scheme.
   Extensive earthworks, and associated development, within the riparian buffer inhibit natural
   creek bed movements and force energy dissipation associated with flood waters elsewhere.
   Provision of required riparian buffers, habitat restoration and enhancement planting will
   mitigate the aforementioned ecological hazards.
   Considering the intensification of the site in a rural zone, the proposed use and the
   earthworks required to undertake this use, the application of a suitable riparian buffer is
   paramount to achieve the environmental outcomes of the Biodiversity Overlay Code. The
   current layout is not supported due to encroachment in to the riparian buffer area.
   The following images detail the waterway within the Riparian Buffer:




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