2018-02-06 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   6 FEBRUARY 2018




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PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                            6 FEBRUARY 2018

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       The key delay in the oyster reef part has been obtaining the necessary permits to place them in the river.
       These reefs will provide structure on the river bed that will encourage oyster spat to settle on them and
       develop natural reefs thereon on which fish can feed. The legislation identifies that only Council can apply
       for the permits and we are extremely grateful to Council Staff for their help in this matter. Permits have
       been obtained and Council indemnified by NBRF with project insurance and a bond.
       The second part on prawns has been started now and will develop in earnest in 2018. Working with the
       University of Queensland. The aim is to identify ways to encourage the prawn population and hence
       increase the fish stock.

       The Noosa Landcare project, “Keeping it in Kin Kin”, aims to find ways to prevent erosion in Kin Kin Creek
       and its subsidiaries from building sediment in the lakes and river. This will improve water quality and,
       again, encourage fish. At the same time, we hope to improve agricultural productivity. During the year, a
       major “Lidar” study and mapping has been undertaken to identify the principal erosion hotspots. This work
       will now be ground proofed and action plans drawn up. During the year a number of training workshops
       were held with the Kin Kin community covering potential remedial approaches.
       Our project with USC to use sniffer dogs to locate Koala scat is underway and is moving on to DNA
       analysis which will allow both tracking and health monitoring.
       The Noosa Integrated Catchment Association (NICA) completed and distributed their reference book on
       Sedges.
       The Noosa Community Biosphere Association (NCBA) continued with their community engagement
       sessions using the short video developed by them through a grant from us. This has been effective in
       educating groups on the role of the Biosphere and will be an ongoing activity now to improve on the low
       level of community understanding.

       3.4 New Grant Round

       Major progress has been made to launch a new round of grants. $330,000 is available coming from the
       environmental levy ($250,000) and the economic development fund ($80,000). Although projects will be
       largely oriented to one or the other, in the spirit of the Biosphere, we are asking all projects to have an
       element of both “Prosperity and Protection” in them. This will be a major activity in 2017/18.

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