2019-02-12 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                 12 FEBRUARY 2019


These projects will have multiple community stakeholders and clear, measurable outcomes.
Projects may be funded for up to three years. Recipients will be required to provide an annual
progress report that includes a financial report, which demonstrates delivery of agreed outcomes.
Projects will be sought annually through an on open application process or EOI.
Council will retain the flexibility to receive and assess MEC Project applications outside of this
timeframe, but all projects will still be subject to Council approval.
3.    February 2019 Grant Round
In the absence of an adopted Environment Grants Policy, the previous grant round assessment of
September 2018 year was undertaken using the broader Community Grants Program criteria,
along with the Environment Levy Policy, with funding to be provided from the Environment Levy
for grants related to the environment.
The next grant round is due to open in late February 2019. It is anticipated that there will be a Draft
Environment Strategy for public comment at this stage, but not yet an adopted Environment
Strategy to guide the full implementation of the Environment Grants Policy. Given this, an interim
set of criteria, based on the Draft Environment Strategy, has been developed and will be used to
guide assessment of this next round of grants, until such time that the Environment Strategy is
adopted by Council.
Applications for Environment Project Grants and Environment Alliance Organisation Grants will be
sought at the same time as the Community Grants, currently scheduled for late February 2019. All
available funding for this round of grants is from the Environmental Levy, which states as its
purpose “to support initiatives in partnership with the community that protect, enhance and increase
the resilience of Noosa’s natural environment”.
Interim Evaluation Criteria
For this round of grants, applications will be assessed against the Environment Levy Policy, the
Environment Grants Policy, and relevant Strategic Outcomes of the Biodiversity and Waterways,
Wetlands and Coasts themes in the Draft Environment Strategy listed below:
    Ecological linkages and connecting habitat areas are improved and rehabilitated to increase
      landscape connectivity and species resilience.
    Community conservation partnerships on public and private land are developed to deliver
      successful biodiversity conservation outcomes.
    Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, as well as fauna and flora species, are protected from
      significant human impacts.
    Invasive pest species are managed strategically to reduce impacts on native species and
      habitats, fisheries, recreation and tourism values.
    Water quality, riparian areas and catchment health is protected and improved by partnering
      with landholders and stakeholders to actively manage and rehabilitate priority stream
      reaches.
    Aquatic biodiversity is improved through the preservation and enhancement of diverse
      instream, riparian and wetland habitats.
    Point source and diffuse pollution is identified and effectively managed to reduce impacts on
      waterways, wetlands and coasts.
    Waterways, wetlands and coastal environments are protected, managed and maintained in
      their natural state and are enhanced to support healthy and diverse ecosystems.
    The quality and quantity of groundwater, surface water and wastewater discharge is
      optimised to minimise impacts to receiving waters, aquatic ecosystems and human health.



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