2020-01-13 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   13 JANUARY 2020




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GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                               13 JANUARY 2020

           POLICY GUIDELINE — Private Land Conservation Partnerships

           Support for VCA’s
           Financial Incentives
           Existing VCA’s:
           Council will continue to honour existing VCA’s that were entered into with the Sunshine Coast
           Regional Council. Council may also offer existing VCA landowners the option of placing an additional
           layer of protection over the property via split zoning the existing conservation area into Environmental
           Management and Conservation zoning.
           The agreed incentives will continue as per the individual landholders Voluntany-Conservation
           AgreemenrtVCA with the annual incentive being reviewed against CPI every 5 yearsand—will-be
           Incentives are paid annually following a property assessment by a Council officer with any
           unallocated funds relating to a particular property expiring at the end of each financial year (i.e. they
           are not carried forward). When a property changes hands, the statutory conservation protection
     |     remains, and the Voluntary Conservation AgreementVCA expires. An agreement between the new
           landholder and Council may be entered into depending on VCA program priorities, and applications
           will be considered at the request of the new landholder.
          New VCA's:
     |     Where an eligible landholder and Council enter into a new VeluntarnyConservation AgreementVCA
           which includes statutory protection and/or an Environmental Management Plan for the conservation
           area, Council Ray-will provide the following insentivesresources:
           Establishment costs
           Council will outlay costs to establish a covenant, Nature Refuge or split zoning on the nominated
           section of the property. Costs include developing a survey plan of the covenant area, Nature Refuge
           dedication costs, legal fees, and Council officer time.
            5        :        ‘tba       so       ;

          EnvironmentalVanagement PlanFinancial Incentive
           A financial incentive may be provided for the development-and-annual implementation ferup+te-S
           years—of an Environmental Management Plan_for_ up to 5 years, with the annual incentive being
           reviewed against CPI every 5 years. These include:
           °     Costs to develop the Environmental Management Plan for the conservation area under
                 statutory protection.
     |     °     An annual incentive to implement the Environmental Management Plan—whick will be capped;
                 as follows:
                 o ~—- Minimum available annual incentive of $1,630 per annum for Conservation Areas up to 5
                       hectares in size.
                 °     For conservation areas over 5 hectares an additional $108 will be available for every
                      extra hectare, up to a maximum total of $5425 each year.

                 °    Ongoing financial support will not exceed 5 years unless specified in the EMP.
                 °    Costs cannot be claimed for unexpended VCA funds from previous financial years.
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