2018-06-12 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                          12 JUNE 2018


Section Heading              Summary of changes
Policy Background and        Renamed from ‘Policy Background’ and expanded to reference the
Context                      Noosa Design Principles “Look and Feel” concept. Includes added text
                             underlining the concept of trees as valued assets and the need for a
                             balanced risk-management approach.
Policy Objectives            Renamed from ‘Council Policy’. All points have been re-phrased to
                             form objectives. Objectives have also been listed in order of
                             importance, with risk and safety issues being at the top of the list.
                             The following objectives in particular have been modified:
                             • The item relating to Council’s approach to assessing dangers posed
                                by trees has been reworded to an assessment of risks and benefits
                                posed by trees in accordance with defined criteria
                             • The item relating to proactive maintenance of trees on public land
                                has been reworded with a focus on the identification and
                                minimisation of risk.
Dealing with Requests for    Substitution of “Council’s expert staff and/or skilled contractors hired
Tree Pruning and Removal     for their expertise” with “Council’s qualified staff and/or consultant
                             arborists”.
                             Changes to the second paragraph from several specific and examples
                             of risk and benefit to the following summary sentence: “Trees will only
                             be removed or pruned after consideration of potential risks and
                             benefits.”
                             The original 2015 policy outlined only two reasons that a tree would not
                             be removed (views and leaf litter) and one reason for removal/pruning
                             (roots). The revised policy has a more comprehensive list of tree works
                             that Council may agree to, and the type of tree works that Council
                             generally won’t agree to.
                             Added new point about Council sometimes allowing non-essential
                             works to be undertaken in mitigating circumstances at the cost of the
                             applicant via a tree permit.
                             Added new point about trees being removed if required for access in
                             emergency events (definition of “emergency event” is from Disaster
                             Management Act 2003 and included in the Definitions section of the
                             policy).
                             Deletion of “Council will maintain a good neighbour approach…”
                             sentence as it has been found to create confusion due to the link with
                             the Neighbourhood Disputes (Dividing Fences and Trees) Act 2011
                             which does not apply to trees on public land.
Replacement Trees and        Added text to this section which further explains Council’s rationale and
Offsets                      approach to replacement planting strategy with the “right tree in the
                             right location”.
Roles and Responsibilities   No change
Definitions                  Some definitions have been removed from the original as they are not
                             actually referred to in the document e.g. Declared Pest Plant, Native
                             Vegetation, Nuisance. Two new definitions have been added as they
                             are now referenced – “Emergency event” and “Interference”.
Relevant Legislation /       Updated in consultation with Local Laws as well as Natural Areas staff.
Standards                    Relevant Australian Standards have been added.

The proposed revised policy is in line with those tree policies of several other local councils
throughout Australia which deliberately exclude issues such as leaves falling or loss of solar
access. It has been evident that a high proportion of tree requests received by Noosa Council fall
into this category. It is expected that the revisions to the policy will provide greater clarification on
Council’s position relating to tree related issues.

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