2021-08-10 Planning & Environment Committee Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   10 AUGUST 2021


                                                  ATTACHMENT 2




                                                   Page 146 of 165

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                    10 AUGUST 2021

                                                                    ATTACHMENT 2
 NRSAC Subcommittee Recommendations on Anchoring, Mooring and
 Live Aboards

 18 June 2021
 Introduction
 As we all have witnessed, an increasingly overcrowded and misused river system has
 seen a growing public outcry to have the river ‘cleaned up’ and much better managed.
 Existing maritime safety and management laws have not been able to keep pace in
 highly populous areas and highly popular waterways such as Noosa’s. Most
 subjectively feel that the natural carrying capacity of the niver has long been exceeded.
 Every year more and more vessels end up on permanent anchor here with a growing
 trend to larger, live aboard vessels. The most common theme being that the river has
 become a chaotic dumping ground for all manner of vessels and that the community
 want to restore it in keeping with the local character and the vision of the Town Plan
 2020.
 Essentially, the community is seeking to remove many vessels at permanent anchor
 out of the river system entirely by regulating anchoring time limits and
 then managing those remaining through the capped formal mooring system
 administered by MSQ.
 Over the past few weeks we have been working on the specifics of what
 these recommendations entail and have found that much is already covered under
 existing Queensland Transport Marine Infrastructure Regulations and simply requires
 greater enforcement and management - the recent provision of full-time MSQ staff
 resources here has already seen positive outcomes in this area which the
 NRSAC recognises, appreciates and supports.
 Overview - Anchoring & Mooring Recommendations
 The recommendations of the Noosa River Stakeholder Advisory Committee for
 immediate changes to Anchoring and Mooring regulations in the Noosa River and its
 waterways are designed to:
    «  protect localised marine environments - from adverse impacts of excessive
       anchoring and mooring,
    «  ensure all water users have fair, equal and safe access to the waterway and,
    *  manage navigational constraints and visual amenity of the waterway.
 There are 3 fundamental changes to MSQ regulations recommended by the NRSAC.
 These are either consistent with or similar to those already existing in other waterways
 in Australia e.g. NSW and the Gold Coast Waterways:
    «  Implement a time limit on all free anchoring on all vessels not on registered
       moorings,
    «  Cap the number of permanent registered moorings up to a maximum of the
       existing number of 105 inclusive of all vessel and mooring type needs, and
    ¢  Stipulate that the standard for mooring design be of an eco-friendly type and
       that MSQ transition to this type of mooring as soon as possible for all vacant
       moorings and then the remainder as they become vacant in the future.

                                                                    Page 146 of 165