Town Planning Report - Expansion to Noosa Landfill

“Specialist services and practical solutions”



           •      Local government is required to continuously promote and implement waste
                  avoidance, reduction and resource recovery actions to meet National waste standards,
                  and the proposed development forms an important component within that process.

           •      Without additional land to increase the RRA, the existing landfill operation will continue
                  to be restricted and not enable waste avoidance to the detriment of the environment
                  and the Noosa community more generally.

           •      The current size of the RRA is restricted, which is increasing the level of risk to staff,
                  contractors and the public, given heavy machinery is operated within a constrained
                  area.

           •      The Council has a significant duty of care to meet workplace health and safety
                  obligations to ensure that the landfill is operated in a safe manner, which needs to be
                  continuously reviewed and improved to meet current standards, and as result of
                  population growth.

           •      The general community is incurring additional costs associated with the onsite
                  management of the RRA area because of the increased safety issue, which currently
                  requires continuous and careful management.

           •      The expansion of the RRA will provide for better management of green waste over a
                  larger area to prevent self-combustion and reduce the risk of bushfire because a
                  greater amount of separation can be provided to the adjoining bushland.

           •      The proposed expansion of the RRA will allow for the relocation and enlargement of
                  the existing HES Basin, which will provide substantial environmental benefits in terms
                  of improved stormwater and water quality management; and

           •      The proposed HES Basin will also improve flood mitigation by having improved
                  resilience during major rainfall events, to further reduce the risk of causing serious
                  environmental harm to the adjoining low lying wetland areas.

       The development will result in the removal of about 1 ha of remanent vegetation, which cannot
       be avoided. The finger of vegetation to be removed protrudes into the existing landfill and is
       suffering from the following impacts:

           i)        Historical clearing for access tracks/rural land uses;
           ii)       Modification of drainage lines;
           iii)      Adjacent industrial uses (landfill and depot) – litter incursion;
           iv)       Ongoing slashing and maintenance along two sides;
           v)        Presence of weed/non-native species including Singapore Daisy (Sphagneticola
                     trilobata), Camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), Lantana (Lantana spp.), and
                     Setaria Grass (Setaria sphacelata); and
           vi)       Edge effects (increased light, wind, dust and noise) along three boundary lines.1

       1 Noosa Landfill & RRC – Flora and Fauna Assessment, page 6




       22019 – Noosa Council Expansion of Landfill, November 2023                             Page 7