2020-08-17 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                       17 AUGUST 2020


               Reserve Name                     Fuel Assessment                  Purpose/Type
            Weyba Nature Refuge                     Very High              Ecological/Hazard reduction
          Beach Road Nature Refuge                    High                      Hazard reduction
          Girraween Nature Refuge                     High                     Hazard Reduction
          Bill Huxley Nature Refuge                   High                     Hazard Reduction
                Noosa Landfill                      Very High                  Hazard Reduction

Planned burns are completed by suitably qualified contractors and are required to be performed in
accordance with the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, Department of
Environment & Science Planned Burn Guidelines and SEQ Fire & Biodiversity Consortium Fire
Management Operations Manual.
Customer requests
With last year’s fire season fresh in everyone’s mind, there is understandable anxiety in some
sections of the community. Some residents living in close proximity to bushland can experience
greater levels of concern, whereas others highly value the bushland areas and it is often the reason
people live in these areas. The retention and protection of vegetation is key to the character of
Noosa.
Requests to remove vegetation on Council land adjacent to properties, or to create fuel reduction
zones, is based on the assessed risk. It is not possible to undertake fire management actions
across all reserves at once, priorities for works are based on risk assessments across the entire
bushland reserve network as outlined above.
Consideration is also given to the social risk posed by who is living nearby. In some circumstances,
residents with limited access (such as only one road in and out) or with limited mobility (such as a
care facility) may warrant higher levels of action than an area with a similar fire risk, but more ability
to evacuate in case of a fire. In these circumstances, Council officers work with the community to
find suitable solutions.
2.      Working with the Community
The Queensland Fire & Emergency Services are the lead agency for community education and
engagement on preparing for fire season. Noosa Council however has a strong role to play,
working with and in liaison with QFES, and also to undertake direct engagement with residents on
fire management and preparedness.
Council’s Community Development Team have been working with impacted communities since
the 2019 fires in community recovery, as per the Noosa Disaster Recovery Plan. In June 2020
Council was awarded a new 2-year position (funded by the Department of Communities)
Community Development Officer – Recovery. This role will be filled in the coming weeks and will
support targeted community engagement with relation to disaster preparedness, building
resilience, and supporting recovery from bushfire and other disasters.
This is not new work, with the Community Development Team undertaking a range of significant
projects already in 2020. To be awarded the funding for the Community Development Officer
(Recovery) role, the State Government requested a Community Development Plan that outlined
key projects that will assist the Noosa region with recovery and build on community resilience and
preparedness in partnership with other agencies. One key project identified in the plan has been
the creation of a network of aged care/retirement villages/in-home care providers to support
disaster preparedness in this high-risk sector. Council will work with QFES to assist the sector to
be better disaster prepared and resilient.
Council officers are also engaging with communities impacted by last year’s bushfire events
(Peregian Beach, Cooroibah, Noosa North Shore/Teewah) to host activities or events to mark the
one year anniversary of the 2019 fires. The intent is to use the anniversary of these events as a
springboard to disaster preparedness for this year, to build on community connection and
resilience, and talk about recovery one year on.


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