2020-01-13 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                 13 JANUARY 2020


Previous Council Consideration
Special Meeting Minutes, 28 June 2019, Item 2, Page 3
That Council note the report by the Director Corporate Services to the Special Meeting dated 28
June 2019 and:
A.    Adopt the Financial Sustainability Policy, which is provided as Attachment 1 to the report.
B.    Pursuant to section 191 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, adopt for the 2019/20
      financial year the Investment of Surplus Funds Policy, which is provided as Attachment 2 to
      the report.
C.    Pursuant to section 192 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, adopt for the 2019/20
      financial year the Debt Policy, which is provided as Attachment 3 to the report.
D.    Pursuant to section 198 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, adopt the Procurement
      Policy, which is provided as Attachment 4 to the report.
E.    Adopt the Environment Levy Policy, which is provided as Attachment 5 to the report.
Ordinary Meeting Minutes, 20 September 2018, Item 3, Page 13
That Council note the report by the Principal Environment Officer to the Planning & Environment
Committee Meeting dated 11 September 2018 and adopt:
A.    The Conservation Land Guideline provided at Attachment 1 to the report which provides a
      mapping methodology to support the Environment Levy Land Acquisition Program and
      Private Landholder Conservation Partnerships Programs, with minor changes as
      authorised by the CEO;
B.    The Revolving Fund Guideline provided at Attachment 2 to the report which provides a
      framework to implement a revolving fund, with minor changes as authorised by the CEO;
C.    The Private Land Conservation Guideline provided at Attachment 3 to the report to guide
      the Voluntary Conservation Agreement (VCA) and Land for Wildlife (LfW) Programs, with
      minor changes as authorised by the CEO; and
D.    The Fact Sheet - Conserving Land in Noosa Shire provided at Attachment 4 to the report.

Finance
Using split zoning rather than establishing conservation covenants will result in a net saving to
Council of up to $14,000 per annum (the average establishment costs of two conservation
covenants). These funds can be put into resourcing additional on-ground works on VCA
properties, or resourcing the establishment of more Nature Refuges on properties with high
biodiversity values or large size.
Increasing the financial incentives to VCA properties in line with CPI increases the annual budget
to the 15 existing VCA properties from $33,975 to $36,863.

Risks & Opportunities
By offering split zoning to landowners who wish to voluntarily protect part of their property into the
future there is an opportunity to significantly increase the area of private conservation land within
Noosa Shire.
There is a risk with the potential time lag (up to 2 years) between establishing a VCA agreement
over a property and the gazettal of the split zoning that the property may be sold during this
intervening period. In this circumstance the new property owner may seek that Council not
proceed with the zoning change or would have the option of applying under the Superseded
Planning Scheme.




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