2021-11-18 Ordinary Meeting Minutes

ORDINARY MEETING MINUTES                                                              18 NOVEMBER 2021


    brother, Gabriel Cerasani, owns a property at Beaches Estate, Sunrise Beach which is one of the
    properties identified as `at risk' under the draft CHAP. My brother owns a beachfront property at Sunrise
    Beach. The Property is directly affected by the draft CHAP and directly covered by mapping looking at
    future erosion risk based on future models. My brother has also made a submission on the CHAP and
    is also a member of the executive committee of the Eastern Beaches Protection Association Inc. During
    my election campaign my brother helped me with my campaign, handed out voting cards and 2 of my
    election signs were outside his property on David Low Way. At a recent meeting, I declared my COI
    and asked to leave the room as I have in the past because although I believe I could consider the matter
    impartially and in the public interest, I believe that some members of the public may still have a
    perception of bias. Because of the significance of the CHAP and its Shire-wide implications, and
    because I have received legal advice from Council’s lawyers to state that I have a declarable and not
    prescribed COI, I would like to exercise my right to due process under s150 ES(3) of the Local
    Government Act 2009,and ask that the Councillors present at this meeting room, be my judge and
    decide whether I must leave the room or if I can stay and participate in the meeting, including voting on
    the matter. The legal advice received a few days ago, states that my personal interest in matters
    concerning the CHAP in fact form the basis of a declarable conflict of interest and not a prescribed
    interest: “when matters being considered by Council is not an application, rather the draft CHAP, we
    consider that the personal interest is not caught by s150EI and is not capable of forming the basis of a
    prescribed COI in matters concerning the CHAP.” It is on record that on a number of occasions I have
    indicated to the CEO that I would strongly prefer to be engaged in the CHAP process on the basis that
    this issue is a significant one for the whole community and the whole shire deserves the representation
    of all its elected representatives. In fact the CHAP has political, legal and financial implications for the
    whole SHIRE of Council not just Sunrise Beach, and the narrow area that affects my brother. Many of
    these implications are unrelated to the perceived interest of one property on the Eastern Beaches.
    Everyone in this room and every ratepayer will be impacted by the CHAP and not just my brother.
    Council assets, our beaches, the environment and all ratepayers. This is evident on page 3 of the Draft
    CHAP, where the CHAP’s core objectives are listed to include:
    •        identifying what actions are required to avoid, reduce or adapt to these risks to people, property,
             assets and environment;
    •        providing mapping and visual products and deliverables that are useful for a range of purposes
             across Council departments and functions and within the community (e.g. planning scheme, asset
             management, community awareness, disaster management and financial planning; and
    •        to provide direction for a coordinated approach for Council and the community to adapt to climate
             change and coastal hazards.
    The CHAP covers open Coast areas - Peregian Beach to Sunshine Beach, Noosa Heads, and Noosa
    North Shore. It includes areas along the Lower Noosa River (Noosa Heads, Tewantin, and in particular
    Noosaville and Noosa North Shore) that will be increasingly at risk of inundation associated with rising
    sea levels. Inundation and rising sea levels will pose the greatest risk to Council infrastructure such as
    stormwater networks, open space and roads and some private property, as well as indirect
    consequences on adjacent retail and commercial activities. In open coast areas, impacts will be
    experienced not just to private properties, but also to Council Infrastructure, such as roads and
    recreational areas, including our beaches. It is understood that the CHAP in its final form, together with
    the Climate Change Adaptation Plan, the Zero Emissions Strategy and the Climate Change Policy, will
    form Council’s response to climate change. Further, the CHAP is intended to guide decision-making
    across key areas of Council, including:
    a.       Corporate and operational planning and financial planning;
    b.       Land use planning and development assessment;
    c.       Infrastructure planning, design and management including roads, stormwater and foreshores;
    d.       Management of non-infrastructure assets including conservation and recreational areas;
    e.       Community resilience planning; and
    f.       Emergency management.
    These are significant Shire wide implications that will impact more than just the one property that my
    brother owns at Sunrise Beach. It is my opinion that is not democratic nor reasonable to exclude me
    from a significant or important shire wide issue which is, in my opinion, a policy and not a planning
    instrument. Although I have a declarable conflict of interest and I believe I could consider the matter
    impartially and in the public interest. I will choose to remain in the meeting room. However, I will respect
    the decision of the meeting on whether I can remain and participate in the decision. I also inform the
    meeting that I have a further declarable conflict of interest in this matter as I have a close personal
    relationship with Mark Bain and the Bain family, owner of 1 Noosa River Road which is an at risk property
    under the draft CHAP, they are family friends that have attended social events together and whose
    children both attended school together and surfed together as part of the Noosa Board Riders Club.

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