2019-11-28 Special Meeting Agenda

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                        28 NOVEMBER 2019


REPORTS

1     DRAFT NOOSA RIVER PLAN FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Author            Environment Officer (Rivers and Coast), Jan Maddin
                  Environment and Sustainable Development Department

Index             ECM/ Subject/ 63.03 Waterway Management - Noosa River

Attachments       1.    Draft Noosa River Plan (34 page attachment provided separately to
                        this agenda)


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not applicable

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Environment Officer (Rivers and Coast) to the Special Meeting
dated 28 November 2019 and endorse the Draft Noosa River Plan as provided at Attachment 1 for
the purpose of further community consultation.

REPORT
Council endorsed a review and update of the Noosa River Plan (2004) under a whole of catchment
framework in 2017, to address a number of key pressures affecting the river system and to
progress recommendations of the Noosa River Community Jury.
With the first draft of the draft Noosa River Plan completed, Council endorsed its release for public
consultation in 2018. Following feedback from the community and other stakeholders, a second
version of the Draft River Plan has now been developed, and is ready for further public consultation.
This version has been restructured to align with Council’s overarching Environment Strategy and
Sustainability Principles, as well as the targets, strategies and outcomes of the Noosa Environment
Strategy, endorsed by Council in June 2019.
Based on the feedback received during the first round of consultation, this version articulates a
stronger emphasis on the social, cultural and economic benefits the community derives from the
Noosa River, and also incorporates a new section about management of the Noosa River mouth.
In addition, and due to further research conducted on commercial fishing and benthic biodiversity,
the new draft advances Council’s stated intent regarding commercial fisheries management
reforms in Noosa. More emphasis has also been placed on management of litter entering the
waterways, as this feedback came through strongly in previous community consultation. This
includes developing a strategy to address littering behaviours as well as infrastructure solutions to
remove all litter entering the waterways i.e. zero litter to the Noosa River by 2030.
Whilst all this activity and feedback has informed the new Draft Plan and resulted in some changes,
it has also reinforced the direction of the original Draft of the Noosa River Plan, as well as the
community’s unwavering interest in protecting this valuable natural, social and economic asset,
that is the Noosa River catchment.
The vision for the Noosa River system is that it’s celebrated as the healthiest in South-east
Queensland and managed and protected for the greatest well-being of the community, both now
and into the future.
This second Draft of the Noosa River Plan has been prepared to achieve this vision. It seeks to
maintain and improve on the environmental values and community benefits associated with the
river system, by managing key threats to these values and benefits, and responding to change.


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