2014-05-26 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                      26 MAY 2014


    Undertake evaluation of potential projects for funding purposes and provide
     recommendations to the Trust for funding;
    Enable persons involved in projects at the doing level to join the association;
    Employ staff to undertake the co-ordination functions (with funding to be provided) but noting
     these staff will be focused on co-ordination and support, not on the actual doing; and
    Be based at a physical location which is separate from Council.

It is envisaged that there will be a transition period to enable the incorporated association to be
established. This will involve establishment of a Constitution with the objects of the Incorporated
Association to reflect its role and relationship to the Trust.

It should be noted that like all Incorporated Associations, control of the association rests in the
hands of its members, not the Council. It is anticipated that the membership will be drawn from
the doing level.

C.     Doing Level

In its original proposal, the Working Group identified this doing level as important to the future of
the Noosa Biosphere Reserve model i.e. this is where projects will occur “on the ground” that will
help achieve the vision.

Feedback through the consultation process included the following:
 It is important to understand that people involved in the doing level are volunteers and
   volunteers need to be recognised and supported;
 There was feedback that there needs to be clearer links between the Sector Boards and
   Council and there was uncertainty about their future role;
 Sector Board members would clearly prefer to have the same arrangement for representation
   i.e. Sector Board representatives currently automatically have the right of appointment to the
   Noosa Biosphere Ltd Board; and
 There should be the opportunity for people involved in the project delivery to be able to join or
   belong to one of the other tiers so that issues could be better communicated and understood.

Based on this feedback, the Working Group proposes some enhancements to the original doing
tier as outlined in the proposal.

The Working Group also wishes to record once again its appreciation and support for all of the
volunteers who are undertaking work in relation to the Noosa Biosphere Reserve.

In relation to the doing tier, the Working Group proposes the following:
 The focus should be on getting as many people from as broad a cross section of our
    community as possible involved in projects to advance the vision for the Noosa Biosphere
    Reserve;
 The Working Group notes that while Tourism Noosa is nominally a Sector Board, it has not
    operated as a Sector Board for some time and should no longer be regarded as a separate
    Sector Board;
 Sector Boards were originally established to provide the Council with strategic advice,
    particularly when the Council was developing long-term strategies for our region that related
    to a particular Sector Board area of interest. The Council should be able to tap into the
    experience and knowledge of the Sector Board members in the future when developing
    strategies for our region; and
 Anyone who is involved in the doing tier should be able to join the Incorporated Association
    and have a say in prioritisation of projects and other matters that impact upon their volunteer
    work.



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