2022-08-09 Planning & Environment Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   9 AUGUST 2022




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PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                  9 AUGUST 2022

            COUNCIL POLICY

            Council recognises the need to support impacted communities while also conserving flying-foxes
            and the critical ecological services they provide. This SoMI outlines how Council plans to manage
            flying-fox populations and associated community impacts within the Noosa LGA.

            Council is committed to conserving flying-foxes and natural areas, and therefore does not support
            flying-fox dispersal or destruction of roosts. Dispersal is also extremely costly with unpredictable
            outcomes, usually with only short-term results where flying-foxes re-establish the original roost and
            often create additional new roosts in the process. Dispersal may be considered in extreme cases,
            where there is a risk or significant impact that cannot be managed in other ways. Any management
            will be implemented using a staged approach to ensure that costs and impacts to flying-foxes (and
            other ecological values) are minimised.

            Council will consider the following to decide what action is appropriate at a particular site:

                -  location of the roost and land tenure
                -  size, occupancy and history of the roost
                +  community concerns
                +  species present and timing of breeding
                -  ecological values including threatened fauna and/or flora species and communities
                -  cost of management actions
                -  risks associated with management
                -  the likelihood of management actions addressing community concerns
                -  latest information from researchers.

            There are several actions that may be undertaken to manage conflict between flying-foxes and the
            surrounding community, including education, regular monitoring, vegetation works, buffering
            techniques (e.g. canopy-sprinkler systems) and subsidy programs. The level of conflict at each roost,
            in combination with other site-specific factors, will guide the type of action undertaken. The figures
            below provide an overview of this framework to guide flying-fox management decision-making.

            Indicators of roost conflict level

                                                     Medium conflict                     High conflict
             * No sensitive receptors within    * Moderately sensitive            * Highly sensitive receptor(s)
              proximity of the roost             receptor(s) within proximity of   within proximity of the roost
             + Low number of flying-foxes       the roost                         + Large number of flying-foxes
              present                           * Medium number of flying-         present, or consistent large
             + Low potential for roost to       foxes present, with the            seasonal influxes
              expand                             potential for large influxes     + High potential for roost to
             « Low impact on surrounding        + Moderate potential for roost     expand
              residential properties            to expand —                       + High impact on residential
             ¢ Relatively large distance        * Moderate impact on               properties
              between roost and residential      residential properties           * No or little distance between
              properties                        * Moderate distance between        roost and residential
                                                 roost and residential             properties
                                                 properties

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