2022-10-24 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   24 OCTOBER 2022




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GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                                24 OCTOBER 2022

                Review of Noosa Oyster Ecosystem Restoration Project
                Key Issues Report — Noosa Shire Council                                                                            Confidential and subject to legal privilege
                                                                                                                                                           18 October 2022

                  Item      Nand 4   Key issue                                                                     Recommended action
                          category
                  i                  Whether TNC provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate its eligibility to    To ensure the funding recipients provide all
                                     receive the funding under the Environmental Policy and its application was    relevant information when submitting their
                                     otherwise in accordance with such requirements.                               proposals, Council may consider implementing
                                                                                                                   one or more ‘gates’ where applicants cannot
                                     NRF Observations:                                                             proceed to the next stage of the proposal
                                                                                                                   evaluation process until they have provided all
                                     TNC submitted the Proposal, which was a 19 page application for the Project — relevant information (such as not-for-profit status,
                                     (dated 2019 — 2021 ), which contained a detailed overview of the Project's    incorporation/ABN details, insurances and work
                                     purpose, funding requirements, benefits to the local community (including     place health and safety practices etc.). In relation
                                     value for money and that the project is in the public interest) and alignment to this, Council might consider:
                                     with Council’s Noosa Environment Strategy. While this Proposal addressed      wa  stnillar ferltenl fires feelesins ieifeenark
                                     most of the relevant criteria, it did not address all of the criteria specified in  li    t    lat     lic Serr  g    d g
                                     the Environmental Grants Policy. For example, the Proposal did not address        ROCs SIUPAIE GPpISaNOn Onan
                                     (in sufficient detail) TNC’s not-for-profit status, incorporation, ABN and bank   complianes checklist that should be
                                     account details, workplace health and safety practices and insurances that it     completed by prapanans for the relevant
                                     holds (or will effect for the Project). In this respect, we consider, based on    grant proposal. This will ensure greater
                                     the longstanding relationship Council had with TNC (which we understand           gansistencs Ip inermatan ended and
                                     was circa 4 years at the time of the Proposal) coupled with the Project being     campllaner cheeks by Ceanell: end
                                     subject to a formal contract being entered into (where the contract would     e _ instituting internal processes that require
                                     identify some of this information such as the ABN), these non-conformances        appropriate delegated employees to confirm
                                     to be minor.                                                                      whether the proponent has passed an EOI
                                                                                                                       gate (based on the EOI form) and application
                                                                                                                       gate (based on the application form).
                                                                                                                   In addition to the above (and not specifically
                                                                                                                   relevant to our review of this Project), Council
                                                                                                                   may also look to build into its funding/grant
                                                                                                                   agreements obligations ensuring funding
                                                                                                                   recipients satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria at
                                                                                                                   all times throughout the funding term. This could
                                                                                                                   be built in to the terms of the funding agreement.
                  3:                 In assessing TNC’s Proposal, Council considered relevant assessment           In the future, if Council considers a particular
                                     criteria, as prescribed in the Environmental Policy (and other relevant policies project in isolation (i.e. Council’s consideration is
                                     and procedures). For example, local content and community benefits            similar to a ‘sole sourced’ project and is not
                                     requirements.                                                                 considering that project in comparison to other
                                                                                                                   potential applications that may be competing for
                                                                                                                   an allocation of the funding available), it should
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