2022-10-24 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                24 OCTOBER 2022


At this meeting Council also requested a number of items. This report provides an update of the
actions and response to these items as follows;
B.    Authorise the CEO to commence negotiations with The Nature Conservancy regarding the
      Noosa River Reef Restoration Alliance and Funding Agreement and report back to Council
      on the outcomes;
The CEO and Director of Environment and Sustainable Development entered negotiations with
TNC on the current alliance arrangement and the potential for a further agreement. It was
determined by both parties to not enter into a further agreement as it was not deemed necessary.
The requirements of the project and alliance agreement have been met by TNC and completed by
the end of the term as specified in the Agreement.
Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the Oyster reef restoration project is still required under the
State and Council permits, providing adequate mechanisms in place to ensure the ongoing
success of the project. It is intended and hoped that Council can continue to work collaboratively
with TNC and benefit from TNC’s immense expertise to support Council’s priorities and target for
the Noosa River to achieve an A rating for environmental health as articulated in Council’s
Environmental Strategy.
C.    Note that a separate detailed report and considerations will be presented to Council
      regarding the findings of the Current and Historical Distribution of Seagrass in the Noosa
      Estuary Report presented by The Nature Conservancy.
A council workshop has been set to discuss this report, a further report will then occur to Council.
D.    Review the procurement and administrative processes to instigate the project, risks
      associated with the project and how these are to be mitigated and incorporated into Key
      Performance Indicators and any other matters that the Council should be made aware of in
      entering into the agreement.
An independent review was sought by Norton Rose Fulbright Australia, to review the processes to
instigate the project. This review report is attached (Refer Attachment 2)
The review provides an assessment of the process undertaken to instigate the project and the
reporting requirements of the project over the past 3 years. The review’s overall findings are;
Overall, our review found that the process adopted by Council was generally consistent with its
applicable policies and statutory requirements and identified no major (red flag) issues. We did
identify a small number of areas of improvement and recommendations for Council’s consideration.
E.    That the CEO be requested to keep a full record of staff time and costs and ancillary
      expenses associated with the conduct of the review and include these costs as part of the
      report back to Council.
The cost of this independent review was $15,650. Staff time associated with this process totalled
approximately 30 hours which equates to approximately $4000.
F.    Authorise the CEO as per the TNC Alliance Funding Agreement Clause 20.5 -
      "Amendments to this agreement may be proposed by either Party at any time in writing
      to the other Party. The terms of any amendments shall be negotiated by appointed
      contact officers and given effect by written agreement signed by both parties”; and

G.    Contact the TNC in writing with a request to see the receipts and financials as per the Noosa
      Shire Council 'Project Acquittal Form'; and

This request was made to TNC and in response to this request TNC provided a range of further
information including;
•     TNC Audited Financial Statements 30th June 2021
•     TNC Expenditure Statement June 2022 – providing a breakdown of Council’s first milestone
      payment $179,237 paid in Sept 2019 against expenditure categories

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