2020-02-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                               11 FEBRUARY 2020


The Environment Organisation Alliance grants were delivered at the same time as the Community
Alliance Grants program in early 2019, utilising the same guidelines.
The Environment Grants Policy was updated and endorsed at the Ordinary Meeting of September
2019 to incorporate stronger alignment with the Noosa Environment Strategy. This report also
noted the Operating Guideline for the MEC Grants, which outlined the criteria by which the grant
applications would be assessed. This was based on the following three broad categories and
weighted assessment;
   Environmental Outcomes (50%)
   Developing Partnerships (25%)
   Value for Money & Organisational Capacity (25%).
This is first time Council has advertised for applications for the Multi-year Environment
Collaborative Grants program. The MEC Grants program was open for applications from 14
November 2019 to 18 December 2019. Upon opening, a media release was sent out, the grants
were advertised on Council’s Facebook page, and the grants were placed on the front page of the
Noosa Council website.
As per the Council resolution at the September Ordinary Meeting, applications were sought
specifically relating to outcomes of the Biodiversity and Waterways, Wetlands and Coast themes
of the Noosa Environment Strategy.
Applications received
Ten applications were received for MEC Grants and staff had meetings with groups regarding 12
potential projects. This was a great response. Further detail on the applications received can be
found in Attachment 1: MEC Grant Project Descriptions.
Noosa Council has provided funding of $375,000 per year for the Environment Grants Program in
2019/20, of which $250,000 has been allocated to the MEC Grants. All of the grant applications
applied for funding for three years and with the same, or very similar, amounts, for each of the
years.
Total funding request for the 10 applications received was:
   2019/20        $474,894
   2020/21        $464,005
   2021/22        $465,400
The standard and quality of applications was extremely high. Of particular note was how well many
of the projects aligned with the Noosa Environment Strategy, and the effort applicants went to align
their projects with Council’s key environmental strategic document.
The overall level of organisational capacity and value for money was also very high, which is not
surprising given the high level of capability that exists within local environmental and community
organisations. Most applications were accompanied with in-kind contributions close to, or in excess
of, the Council grant funding request.
The grant applications also demonstrated good collaborative and partnership opportunities
amongst environment groups and organisations. It would have been good to see more partnering
with non-environmental groups in the applications provided, as the potential was there for some of
the applications.
Assessment
The MEC Operating Guideline calls for three separate assessors of all the grants;
   A member of the Environmental Services team
   Another Noosa Council employee, from a different part of Council
   An external assessor, with subject matter expertise.


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