2017-10-13 Special Meeting

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                          13 OCTOBER 2017


4.3. Remediation of the Pine Areas of the PLA and transfer to Conservation Park
   At the end of the 5-year period, the PLA will be surrendered and the State will appoint Council
     as sole trustee of the PLA land as Conservation Parks (one Conservation Park for the Yurol
     PLA area and one for the Ringtail PLA area).
   Council will undertake rehabilitation for 5 years with funding support from NPA. Details on
     rehabilitation costs and processes are set out below.
   At the end of the 5-year rehabilitation period, Council will not be required to undertake further
     rehabilitation (but may choose to do so if it wishes). Council’s obligation to remediate is
     capped at 5 years.
   At the end of the 5-year rehabilitation period, the State will transfer the Conservation Park
     lands into National Park status. That process is expected to be completed within 2 years of
     that time (i.e. within 7 years of Council being appointed as trustee).
   As an alternative, at Council's option, the parties could agree that the land can go directly
     into National Park once the PLA is surrendered. This would effectively skip the Conservation
     Park step and may require Council to contribute financially to the rehabilitation costs in lieu
     of undertaking that ourselves. This alternative is something that may be explored at Council’s
     option via the Transition Committee at that time and could only be done with the agreement
     of all parties. The default position remains as Council being appointed as trustee of the
     Conservation Parks.

4.4. Transfer of PLA Hardwood areas into National Park
   Upon signing the formal legal agreements (discussed below), the State on a best endeavours
     basis will convert as expeditiously as practical the PLA Hardwood areas to National Park (but
     in any event within 5 years). This will depend on individual titles and tenure for those
     Hardwood areas.
   There are no remediation obligations to be imposed on Council with respect to the PLA
     Hardwood areas.


4.5. Transfer of the non PLA State Forest areas into National Park
   For the State Forest land not covered by the current PLA, DAF will identify which of those
     parcels will not be required for access for timber resources. DAF have indicated that this will
     be approximately 90% of that State Forest land. A process to transfer the State forest into
     National Park will commence upon the signing of the agreement.
   The remaining (approximately 10%) of that land will be held by DAF as State forest for a
     period of 5 years to allow DAF to fulfil their obligations. (As a matter of interest, some of the
     timber extracted from this area is used at agricultural shows for wood chopping events). At
     the end of that 5-year period, DAF has advised that they will no longer require this resource
     and they will finalise the use of this remaining state forest land for forestry purposes. This
     land will then be transferred into National Park by the State.

4.6. Financial Contribution by Council
   To facilitate the acquisition costs, it is proposed that funding be used from the Environment
     Levy. The levy can be used to “acquire land or an interest in land”.
   To facilitate remediation costs, it is also proposed that funding be used from the Environment
     Levy. The levy can be used to rehabilitate or maintain land acquired under the Environment
     levy.
   Details of Council’s potential costs for both acquisition and remediation are contained in the
     Finance section of this report.




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