2020-02-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                               11 FEBRUARY 2020


          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.
C.    As a result of the introduction of a new separate Environment Grants Program and Policy,
      Council approve the amendments required to the Community Grants Policy as detailed in
      Attachment 2 to the report to the General Committee meeting dated 18 February 2019;
      and
D.    Authorise the CEO to make any required minor amendments to the Policies prior to
      publication.


Finance
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. As a result, we did not need to consider how variable amounts of funding from year to year
would impact on the projects.
The recommended funding for the next three years is:
 2019-2020 $259,338
 2020-2021 $259,959
 2021-2022 $261,354
This represents a small increase on the $250,000 generally allocated to the MEC Grants, out of
the total pool of $375,000 funding for the Environment Grants Program. In the absence of any
increase in funding being made available over the following two years, it is anticipated that a small
reduction in the funding allocated to Environment Project Grants (currently at $75,000 per year)
will offset this. For the 2019/20 financial year, there is already an underspend in the Environment
Project Grants to allow for the extra funding to the MEC Grants.


Risks & Opportunities
The MEC Grants projects provide the first opportunity in quite a few years for Noosa Council to
provide long-term, significant financial support to community groups undertaking high-value
environmental projects in Noosa. A robust evaluation process, aligned with the endorsed Noosa
Environment Strategy, ensures that the projects are the best ones for Council to support.
There is a risk that community groups may not be able to deliver on these projects. This has been
initially managed by including the organisational capacity of groups within the assessment process.
This included a consideration of experience in delivering similar types and sizes of projects in the
past. Each project will also have a single Council Officer as a point of contact throughout the
project, so any issues are quickly identified and resolved.




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