2017-10-13 Special Meeting

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                            13 OCTOBER 2017


RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the Special Meeting dated 13 October
2017 regarding a proposed hinterland environmental conservation project and:
A.    Note the proposed environmental benefits, risks and costs associated with the proposed
      project; and
B.    Approve the project “in principle” and authorise the Chief Executive Officer to proceed with
      the Approved Actions as set out in the report.



REPORT
This report provides Council with details of a proposed project to create a major environmental
conservation area in the Yurol and Ringtail Forest localities to assist with biodiversity and in
particular, to create a major Koala corridor and preservation area. This report proposes that
Council enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide “in principle” agreement for
the project to allow further detailed negotiations to occur between the parties.

1.    Background
In January 2017, the Mayor and CEO met with Mr Michael Gloster from the Noosa Parks
Association (“NPA”) to hear about a proposal in relation to a large scale environmental protection
project in the Ringtail and Yurol Forest areas of Noosa Shire. The concept was interesting and
would lead to excellent environmental outcomes but was obviously a project of some complexity
involving multiple parties, complex land tenures, different State Departments and the commercial
interest of a plantation timber company.
Since January 2017, work has been undertaken to advance this project to the point where there is
now a strong likelihood that the project will proceed and this report proposes that the Council
support the project “in principle” subject to finalisation of the detailed documentation that would
bring the project to fruition. This project aims to conserve over 2,400 ha of land into long-term
conservation tenure that will significantly add to regional connectivity which will support biodiversity
including specific provision for Koala habitat.


2.    The Parties
It would be beneficial to include a short summary at the beginning of this report of the parties
involved in this project.
    HQPlantations (“HQP”)
      A planation timber company which holds Planation Licence Areas (PLAs) across Queensland
      including 1,492 ha in the Ringtail (879 ha) and Yurol (613 ha) Forest areas. The company
      proposes to surrender its PLA in these areas in exchange for compensation. HQP manages
      approximately 340,000 ha of forest throughout Queensland including both softwoods (pine)
      and hardwoods.
    Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (“DAF”)
      This Department has oversight (via its Forestry Division) of the State Government’s interest
      in both PLAs and State Forests that have timber extraction rights. The Minister for Agriculture
      and Fisheries is the Hon Bill Byrne.
    Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (“E&HP”)
      This Department has policy and funding oversight of a range of environmental initiatives
      including decisions about acquiring conservation estate. The Minister for Environment and
      Heritage Protection is the Hon Dr Steven Miles.

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