2016-01-11 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                               11 JANUARY 2016


The Jury did reach consensus on 12 recommendations for the Council to consider. A copy of the
Community Jury Verdict and explanatory document are included as Attachments 1 & 2.

To progress management of the Noosa River by Noosa Council, the State government has advised
there are a number of legislative options available and a case will need to be presented to the
Minister requesting amendment where local laws are not suitable. The State has also advised that
they will require a commitment from Council to implement and enforce any new provisions.

Previous Council Consideration

Ordinary Meeting 2 July 2015, Item 1, Page 13

That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the Ordinary meeting dated 2 July
2015 regarding the Council’s second Community Jury Project and adopt the question for the
second Community Jury as: “How can we manage the Noosa River better? What role should
Council play and what resources should Council apply?”

Finance & Risk

The Jury’s recommendations require legislative amendments and support for these changes from
State Government. On this basis many of the recommendations will take some time to implement
– with a potential time frame estimated of July 2017.

As part of the Background Information Pack, an estimated budget for Noosa Council to take on the
responsibility as anchoring and mooring manager was provided to the Jury:
 Initial setup $260,000
 Ongoing $160,000 per annum

Notably, initial set up refers to procurement costs + 1 year operational activities + $30,000 for
removal of derelict vessels. Ongoing refers to ongoing operational costs per annum. It was also
noted that these costs may be offset by the ability to collect revenue, with net costs dependent on
the level of fees set. A further $5,000 was estimated for Council to manage commercial uses and
jetty leases.

The Jury’s recommendations will also need to be considered carefully with regard to the best
legislative options; how they may be implemented and funded through a user pay system.

The most suitable method of considering the recommendation is to refer to them to a Council
workshop where the details required to implement the recommendations can be considered further.

Consultation

External Consultation - Community & Stakeholder

The background document was posted on Council’s online community engagement tool, Your Say
Noosa, along with a forum consisting of five key questions to assist the jury with commenting in
scope. 88 responses were received and these comments were made available to the Jury to inform
their deliberations and will be provided to Councillors to inform their future workshops.

Two stakeholder briefings were held on Monday August 21, 2015 prior to the first meeting of the
Jury. Both were well attended by approximately 40 Noosa community members. Three ‘pop up’
booths were also manned at the library during the Jury’s deliberations from August to December
2015.




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