2022-10-27 Ordinary Meeting Minutes

ORDINARY MEETING MINUTES   27 OCTOBER 2022




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ORDINARY MEETING MINUTES                                                                    27 OCTOBER 2022

                     Attachment 3 - Item 7 - Deputation

                     Delay, Deferral, Damage and Disappointment

                     We are talking about private encroachment on the dunes, on public land for which Council is
                     trustee.

                     Council, by inaction, risks breaching its Trustee responsibilities AND Council approval of
                     excessive site coverage is encouraging encroachment. BBQs, play equipment, chairs and
                     tables, lawn, private access paths, non-native plants all adversely impact the dunes.
                     Noosa’s vegetated frontal dunes provide a critical buffer to storm surges and high tide
                     erosion can be protected by legislated setbacks and healthy mature deep-rooted native
                     species. The dunes are impacted by people and weeds.

                     People need to access the dunes to use the beaches but there is a State Planning Policy
                     (SPP) which needs to be complied with and that Policy regulates encroachments and
                     infrastructure.

                     The eastern beaches communities have been trying to get Council to act on private
                     infrastructure and encroachments on the dunes for years without success.

                     Volunteers have worked for years to remove escaped and introduced weed pests and to
                     replant native species with limited Council assistance.

                     Encroachments, on the other hand, frequently remove natives species and introduce weeds
                     as well as infrastructure for private use. There are individuals who live abutting this precious
                     public land who respect and contribute to dune management. They are not the problem.
                     The problem is caused by land owners acting in their private interest without authority or
                     understanding of the damage they cause.

                     Council needs a transparent approval/removal policy process based on community benefit
                     with locality and building compliant requirements. Reduced site coverage and improved
                     setbacks from the dunes should also be implemented to reduce encroachment.

                     Private infrastructure on the dunes with “Private Keep Out” signs have been reported to
                     Local Laws who have partly acted and then backed off because they say that Council does
                     not have a policy.

                     PBCA, in November 2020, wrote a SPP compliant Policy and sent it to Council but we
                     continue to be told to wait for the Foreshore Management Plan. Well we know that it exists
                     but is still not public and worse still, not implemented and apparently again deferred.
                     Meanwhile, detrimental private infrastructure and encroachment continues to occur.

                     What more can individuals, bush care groups and the community do to achieve to stop
                     unlawful private infrastructure and encroachments?

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