2015-07-21 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

Page 78 of 140

d.   Records and data of koala injuries and fatalities are to be used to support the mapping
           of critical hot spots to inform development assessment and Council capital and
           operational works projects. These critical hot spots may relate to vehicle strikes, dog
           attacks or infected koalas.
      e.   Up-to-date methods for verifying the occurrence and health of koalas in Noosa Shire is
           to be investigated and applied where possible. This may include grid point surveys,
           koala detection dogs and heat-seeking monitoring devices attached to drones.
4.    Planning & Development Decision-making
      a.   Potential gaps in National and State legislation and policy on koalas is to be
           investigated and measures considered for further protection through the Noosa Plan.
           This may include, for example, the identification of Matters of Local Significance
           (MLES) and tree protection provisions other than the Noosa Plan mapped biodiversity
           overlay.
      b.   Government organisations, research organisations and koala interest groups are to be
           consulted on the preparation of comprehensive shire-wide koala habitat mapping.
           Mapping may considered for inclusion in the planning scheme for development
           assessment purposes and can also inform Council developments that may be exempt
           from planning scheme provisions.
      c.   State Government has developed the Qid Environmental Offsets Policy 2014 to guide
           developments that may impact on matters of environmental significance. As directed by
           State Government, the Environment Offsets Policy 2014 is to be integrated into the
           new planning scheme.
      d.   Offset receiving sites are to be identified on public or private land that could potentially
           be used for re-instating koala habitat.
      e.   Consistent with the State Qid Offset Policy 2014, environmental offsets provisions are
           applied for clearing of koala habitat in mapped koala habitat areas, provided the
           relevant development applicant has demonstrated that the clearing is unavoidable and
           efforts have gone towards mitigating potential risks to koalas.
     f,    Council Environmental staff are to consider, on an as-needs basis:
           i.    potential land suitable for purchase as environmental offsets, and/or
           il.   Council owned or controlled land suitable for environmental offsets, and/or
           iii.  land parcels in or near koala habitat areas that are suitable for revegetating with
                 koala food trees.
      g.   ‘The feasibility of dog-free estates in or abutting known koala habitat areas is to be
           investigated.
5.    Infrastructure Decisions
      a.   The impacts on koalas and habitat from Council planned capital and operational works
           is to be assessed through the following process:
           i.    In the first instance, investigate measures to avoid any impacts on koalas and
                 habitat from planned works:
           ii.   Mitigate unavoidable impacts from works’:
           ii.   Offset unavoidable impacts as close as possible to the impact site.

" An example of mitigating impacts: reducing tree clearing by shifting the majority of the impact site to an
area already cleared of vegetation. Any remaining trees that are unavoidably cleared (residual impact) are
offset.
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