2014-04-28 General Committee Meeting Agenda Pages 65-200

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                  28 APRIL 2014


Rivers Initiative Steering Group

In 2012, a Steering Group was established to:

    formalise the Sunshine Coast Rivers Initiative;
    provide stewardship for the responsible management of prize monies (i.e. investment
     and/or expenditure);
    develop a potential Twinning Program;
    be the media link for marketing and promotions; and
    identify external funding and sponsorship opportunities.

There are no membership fees or other liabilities associated with participation in the Sunshine
Coast Rivers Initiative. Participation in and support for projects is on a voluntary basis.

To date, the Steering Committee has:

   obtained a pledge of support from all participating members to formalise the Rivers
    Initiative;
   developed a comprehensive membership contact list;
   drafted Guiding Principles for the membership and Steering Group;
   undertaken development of a Sunshine Coast Rivers Initiative logo and website; and
   undertaken development of a Capability Analysis of the membership partners to
    inform a potential Twinning Program.

The $50,000 Twinning component of the Riverprize fund is to be used in accordance with the IRF
Twinning Program guidelines. The Twinning Program proposal is required to be formulated by
December 2014 and will be determined by the Steering Group (and broader membership)
following consolidation of the Capability Analysis currently underway.

Several potential investment opportunities for the remainder of Riverprize monies, have been
proposed by the membership. The Steering Group is currently considering the following options:

    Leveraging the $150,000 prize monies to glean other funding/sponsorship for programs,
     projects or activities;
    A student bursary;
    Support of the Floating Lands festival;
    Development of communication tools and local mentoring/training opportunities; and
   Supporting an annual workshop on river issues.

Following de-amalgamation, the Steering Group is seeking appropriate representation of both the
new and continuing councils for the Rivers Initiative going forward. The Sunshine Coast Council
is a foundation member of the consortium, and the new Noosa Council has been invited to
become a member of this broad partnership.

Currently, the Steering Group representation consists of:

    4 x representatives from community groups (i.e. location specific North, Central, South and
     Hinterland);
    1 x representative from Local Government (i.e. Sunshine Coast Council);
    1 x representative from Natural Resource Management groups (i.e. SEQ Catchments); and
    1 x representative from Industry (i.e. Unity Water).

The benefits to the Noosa Council in becoming a member of the Rivers Initiative are in:


                                                                                Page 103 of 200