2018-04-10 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                    10 APRIL 2018


   All Community Bushland Care groups will have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4
     working bee visits per year from the Community Bushland Care Council staff. This will
     ensure oversight of the program, guidance as required for volunteers, and is considered a
     sustainable level of attendance for the program. A couple of groups have shared concerns
     over Council not attending all working bees, Council staff will work with these groups to
     transition to a sustainable model.
   Any volunteers undertaking spraying of herbicide must hold an ACDC licence, be approved
     by Council to undertake spraying work, and be working to an approved annual work plan.
   Volunteers will work with Council prior to applying for external grants to ensure work can be
     properly resourced and maintained.
   Applications for new groups and/or sites will depend on available resources and level of
     support required. There is very little scope for expansion of the program without resourcing
     above what is already being sought in the 2018/19 budget.
The guidelines reflect and formalise many practises already occurring within the program. As
outlined above, they do embed some shifts that have been occurring across the program over
the past 18 months, particularly the proposed reduction in attendance at all working bees. It is
considered that the guidelines and associated levels of service provide a sustainable model with
more of a focus on the Council-community partnership, rather than dependence. By moving
gradually towards this model, the Community Partnerships Officer has been able to bring groups
along, with all current volunteer team leaders engaging in the development of the guidelines.
Previous Council Consideration
The Council and Community Bushland Care Partnership Operational Guidelines were presented
and discussed at a Councillor Workshop on 15 February 2018. Councillors were invited to
provide any further feedback on the guidelines in the week following. No further feedback was
received.
Finance
The full implementation of the Council and Community Bushland Care Partnership Operational
Guidelines requires the temporary extra resource allocated this financial year to continue, in
order for the level of service and working bee attendance, as per this guideline, to be met.
This has been presented as a new initiative for Council’s consideration in the 2018/19 budget
process.
The proposed budget initiative is in the amount of $35,000, and provides for an extra 0.5 full-time
equivalent position to deliver services to the volunteers of the Bushland Care Program. This is at
the same level of what has been occurring for the past 6-9 months. If the funds are not allocated
in the 2018/19 budget, a further review of service levels, and the guidelines, will need to be
undertaken.
Risks & Opportunities
The changes to service levels over the last few years has not been without challenges. The
Community Partnerships Officer has been able to work closely with our Community Bushland
Care Groups and arrive at a ‘middle point’ where Council can meet the needs of the groups in a
more sustainable way.
The Community Bushland Care program brings together the first two themes of the Noosa
Corporate Plan, ‘The Noosa Environment’ and the ‘The Noosa Community’, and has been a key
Council-community partnership since 2002. These guidelines have been developed to maintain
this relationship and keep this program delivering on the Noosa Council’s Corporate Plan
themes.




                                                                                    Page 23 of 38