2021-08-10 Planning & Environment Committee Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                             10 AUGUST 2021


Community comment                                        Proposed response
Monitoring targets in the plan don’t seem ambitious      The targets to year 2030 are existing targets from the
enough to support the 2026 net zero emissions goal.      Environment Strategy. The new targets in the CCRP
Some targets having a less ambitious goal of 2030.       have been set to 2026 in line with the net zero-
Improve targets by making them more specific,            emissions target. Edits have been made to some
quantitative and time bound to better measure            targets/metrics to make them clearer and more
effectiveness and impact of plan implementation.         measurable, noting that some metrics that seek to
                                                         assess the ‘impact’ of the action are qualitative (ie.
                                                         community perceptions). Other are to simply track
                                                         project completion. These measures can continue to
                                                         be improved over time as suitable data is made
                                                         available.
General comments on plan content/approach
Council should report ‘best’ and ‘worst’ case climate    Agree. The CCRP takes an adaptive management
change scenarios for Noosa, not just ‘worst’ case.       approach that seeks to use best available science to
Council needs to use flexible decision-making            respond to climate risk, and to review and update
processes based on the best available science and        approaches as new information arises. Council is
monitor and track trends to forecast and adjust as       committed to using up-to-date climate information
needed - not solely a precautionary approach.            from the United Nations IPCC and CSIRO.
Council should leverage learnings and initiatives        Agree. Council participates in a range of
from other councils involved in climate risk             collaborative partnerships with other councils to
management to avoid duplication of cost and effort.      facilitate information sharing, cost efficiencies and
                                                         regional approaches.
                                                         Council has been awarded grant funding for climate
                                                         risk and resilience through a number of programs in
                                                         recent years amounting to around $3 million in
                                                         funding for Council and for cleantech business
                                                         development. Some of these grant projects are listed
                                                         in the CCRP under Implementation, Monitoring and
                                                         Review.
The CCRP should be a pre-eminent plan under              While it is acknowledged that the plan cuts across a
which other plans sit eg Transport Plan, Cycling and     range of Council policy documents and functions, in
Walking Plan, Local Economic Plan etc. It should not     terms of the Council’s broader policy framework, the
sit under the Environment Strategy.                      CCRP sits under the Environment Strategy with
                                                         other natural hazards/risk management plans e.g.
                                                         bushfire and flooding. A policy framework diagram
                                                         has been included now in the revised plan to assist
                                                         with understanding policy linkages.
Theme 1: Strong leadership and governance
Include an action for divesting Council financial        Council has already incorporated ethical investment
assets and services from fossil fuels to send a strong   principles in its investment policy, which includes
market signal as well as showing leadership.             giving preference to banks / institutions that are
                                                         considered responsible investors.

Need to provide further scientific-based education       Council is participating in joint initiatives with other
and information about the climate emergency              local governments in SEQ region to explore best
(including in schools).                                  practice methods for increasing knowledge and
                                                         understanding of climate risks and emissions
                                                         reduction across all areas of the community
                                                         including youth. An education, advocacy and
                                                         community mobilisation plan will be developed as
                                                         part of the CCRP implementation to help prioritise
                                                         advocacy and education initiatives.


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