2016-02-02 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                   2 FEBRUARY 2016



                                                                                  Attachment 1
Current monitoring activities underway in the Noosa LGA.

   Statutory activities                                           Details
Site specific monitoring      The following developments were required to undertake water quality
relating to new residential   monitoring for a period of time following completion of their development:
developments.                  Noosa Civic
                               Doonella Estate
                               Noosa Springs
                               RACV Resort (nee Noosa Sanctuary)
                              Water quality monitoring is no longer sought from new developments
                              because it did not facilitate for prevention of problems to water quality.
                              Financial efforts are now focused on ensuring any water quality treatment
                              measures within new developments are constructed and maintained as
                              required. This method allows for operation of the developments to be
                              consistent with the planned impacts to the receiving water quality. A
                              review of all Council bioretention basins has commenced and it has
                              shown that these bio basins have not been maintained. More detailed
                              assessments of the bio basins are now underway to facilitate for
                              adequate funding to be sourced in the next budget to rectify the basins
                              and ensure they operate as designed.

Operational specific          Surface and groundwater monitoring undertaken quarterly to confirm that
monitoring relating to the    the Landfill does not impact on the Environment Values (EVs) of
Eumundi Road landfill.        receiving waters. Constituents that are monitored are indicators of
                              leachate or other chemical releases from the landfill.

Project specific              Upstream and downstream monitoring is required during the operation of
monitoring relating to        Environmentally Relevant Activities (ERA) i.e. dredging operations to
dredging operations or        monitor for pollutants most likely to be generated from the activity. Other
other waterways related       waterways related projects have to comply with State approvals and
projects.                     conditions in order to protect the EVs of the natural waters in Noosa
                              Shire.

Annual inspections of         Council’s Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) inspect 9 businesses per
businesses with an            year across the Shire to ensure compliance with their ERA license
Environmentally Relevant      conditions. These include
Activity (ERA) license.       - 3 boat maintenance/repair businesses;
                              - 1 metal recovery business;
                              - 1 surface coating business;
                              - 4 plastic product manufacturing businesses.
Complaint-driven              Council’s EHOs investigate approximately 40 complaints per year relating
investigations of pollution   to water quality including public health issues, contamination and
incidents                     accidents. Investigations often involve tracing back through the
                              stormwater network to the point source.

Seasonal monitoring for       The program aims to ensure our popular river and ocean bathing
microbial pollution within    beaches are bacterially safe for swimming. Council’s EHOs conducted
Noosa’s bathing reserves      this program annually from 1994 to 2008. It was picked up again by the
(i.e. river and beach).       Sunshine Coast Council during 2012-13. Monitoring involves taking water
                              samples on a regular basis during peak swimming seasons. Obtaining
                              laboratory test results for enterococci (bacterial indicator), investigating
                              catchment areas when very poor results are obtained. In worst case
                              scenarios, erecting public warning signs to avoid swimming near
                              stormwater outlets e.g. Noosa Heads Lions Par, Little Cove. This
                              monitoring minimizes the public health risks under the Public Health Act
                              2005.



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