Noosa River Catchment Management Plan

Tom Wegener54:19

I want to speak to this. Council, wait a minute. We can start, okay. I understand the staff's recommendation, and I understand that they're looking through the lenses of the Planning Scheme. And they say there's no overwhelming need. And I agree, when I say I will not vote against clear wording of the Planning Scheme unless there is an overwhelming public interest. And in this case, I think there is a whopping overriding public interest. And I want us to look at this application through all the other strategies and plans that we have. For example, when we look at the Environment Strategy the Environment Strategy 2019 through the lens a different lens through a different strategy we say by 2030 80 of all grazing land achieve best practice management for agriculture where are we right now far as I know and I've spent a lot of time last four years really trying to understand Noosa agriculture there's a grand total of one east wall farms properly doing regenerative cattle farming so if we approve this application we will double the amount of regenerative cattle operations in Noosa to two when we look at the climate change response plan a different set of eyes we're looking at we know that we need to produce our own food we need to do need to grow it at the last kalula food trail where they go around to the different farms how many crop farmers were there in Noosa on the trail zero there was one east wall farm which had a token regenerative farm we have a situation here where we don't eat what grows here during lunch during the summertime we iceberg lettuce carrots broccoli cauliflower none of them are from here and not from anywhere near here where there's plenty of wonderful greens we could put on our plate but we don't that we don't grow and that is a that is a very very big problem when we look at it this application through the Corporate Plan which is the big daddy plan of ours that the plan states work with agriculture organisations and agencies to support and educate landholders on regenerative agriculture methods and promote local and sustainable food production that's right in the Corporate Plan that went out to public consultation lots of people said yep that's right and we know we need to live up to that and the question about how the Corporate Plan is how is it going to filter out to other plans how are other plans going to use that lens to perceive what to do next and we looked at the last Business Round Table meeting of the economic development and they stated we will scope the preparation of a food and agribusiness industry development plan so that is how our economic policy is looking at the Corporate Plan and the Corporate Plan is filtering through so we're going down this agriculture route when we look at the Noosa River Catchment Management Plan which we will soon be we have a very different view of this application in page 65 it said the amount of silt or mud coming down was one thousand one hundred and two kilograms per hectare which is an ungodly amount of silt coming off of the property this is in just the Kin Kin area alone this is twenty eight thousand sixty nine cubic metres of silt washing off of our primed farmland into the river clogging up our river. Page 26 states, this 26 is states. This is up again of the river plan the massive decline of our lovely little creatures which live in the bottom of the river is due to the amount of sediment in the river and on our watch in the last twenty years thirty to sixty five percent of those creatures that live in the benthic layer aren't there anymore and what does that do to probably silt coming off of our agriculture lands the curdle the current cattle farming is an extractive industry is one where the externalities are not incorporated. Or did does not incorporate externalities into this little bit of what is it does not incorporate into government thing makes that there's nothing can does not incorporate externalities into the business which is they have cattle 60 head of cattle on a hundred acres property that's normal eat out there.

Frank Wilkie76:21

Can we have the camera live again? We're ready to go. Ready? Welcome back everybody. We're up to item 6.1 which is the adoption of the Noosa River Catchment Management Plan and to give us a bit of an overview we have Amy Kimber and we have Kim Rawlings and we have Ben. Derrick. Welcome. Derek, can you give us a bit of an overview of where we're at with the results.

And that's just to clarify that's the difference in the river plan that we've had in the past and what we've developed here it's not just a river plan now river catchment plant incorporating of those inflows and things where Council has remit to actually undertake erosion control management and all of those sort of things that we haven't had a plan for in the past. I mean, I just want to test but it you with the don't normal want machine. To show it.

Thank you. So over the years, we've had many improvements in managing and coordinating river-related issues, including speed limit changes, ecological restoration, marine zone regulations, improved environmental monitoring, and enhanced river-based infrastructure for boat access. We've had various types of governance models. So, you know, at the beginning in 2004, when Council had its first plan, we had a coordinated group of government agencies around the table. In 2016, we had the community jury considering changes to the river. And then we also had, more or less, the river stakeholder advisory committee, which concluded its term in March this year. Now, we did have a subcommittee meeting of the NSERAC about the vision and plan for the river moving forward. It sort of went around in circles a little bit, and I think that the committee felt that having MSQ as a-Chair co-Chair for the committee the really as meant that we needed to focus on MSQ matters, so I think there was a fair bit of frustration that over two years it really only focused on anchoring and mooring, but that was. The situation that we were dealing with. More recently we've had very targeted stakeholder engagement. We had a dedicated workshop with Kabi Kabi, spoken with a whole branch of state government contacts, Council of Mayors. Healthy Land and Water, Landcare, MRCCC, NICA, green age conservancy, a local commercial Fisher. So there's been a lot going on behind the scenes and that has all been documented and incorporated into the plan in of our updated plan, we've really tried to draw on consultations, scientific research and the many partnerships we already have underway. So I think we've been going over this ground for a long time. I think given the amount of consultation that's been undertaken, we do have a good picture of river management issues and concerns and we've really tried to take that feedback on board in terms of this updated plan. It's really important that we get a plan finalised because without it we can't access state and commonwealth funding. We really need a Roadmap to guide our investment moving forward. There are two major opportunities through South East Queensland passport amends. Resilient Rivers opportunity as well as the commonwealth department of climate change, energy and the environment. Waters, urban rivers and catchments program. So there's been advice received that funding will become available later this year for that. The plan provides an overview of the key threats and pressures for the Noosa catchment and we've identified prioritised management actions. But next part is using a risk assessment process intentionally. The intention is that this will be monitored annually, both in terms of the ecological condition of the catchment, but how we're going to actually implement the new plan itself. And one of the ideas that we've been thinking about in terms of the future governance is whether we have a small technical advisory panel that can help guide that ongoing monitoring and risk assessment. The plan includes an action to consider the establishment of a conservation park under the nature conservation act across fish habitat areas. This would provide a statutory head of power for better integration river management across government agencies under a trust agreement and a joint management plan with Department of Environment and Science. In the very, very early stages of considering that we have received legal advice that indicates it is possible. Completion of this plan is listed as a signature project in the 2023-28 Corporate Plan, so we do have a mandate in our head document to get a document on with it. And really without it, as I said, it's a framework to protect and improve the catchment, better monitor conditions and trends, and collaborate to build shared ownership and attract investment. We have peer review undertaking four independent experts, and what we've done is divided the plan up into six management areas to try to prioritise management focuses in each of those areas. So I think that's a long view. An own view of what we've tried to achieve, but I don't think I can take any more a questions.

Amelia Lorentson121:23

I've got a few but I'll start with this one the peer review a note on page 149 that the draft catchment management plan was provided to alluvium consultancy the nature conservancy marine restoration and oceans project coordinator a local ecologist and former nr stakeholder advisory committee member and Noosa District Landcare for the purposes of peer review my question is the former nr stakeholder advisory committee member was that a rep from either the recreational fishers or commercial fishing group because the rest seem to be like in the conservation or environmental group um was there a bit of diversity um in that selection.

Brian Stockwell131:18

Councillor Stockwell. Yeah, I'll be supporting the deferral motion. We've had six years of consultation leading up to this point. Motion in January 2017. To review it and put the Noosa room plan into a whole catchment management framework as generally outlined by the staff report at the time and to undertake. Stakeholder analysis to determine a proper way forward in terms of community engagement.

Amelia Lorentson127:23

I'd like to move a procedural the board of directors. Motion I'd like to move a procedural motion to defer this matter defer to the next round of meetings this matter to allow Councillors and other stakeholders an Councillors and other stakeholders an opportunity to consider the details opportunity to consider the details and implications of a draft Noosa River and implications Noosa River catchment plan and provide catchment plan and provide feedback. Do so and I do so because I've spoken to two members from in surak and members from the Noosa boating fishing alliance all who have raised some concerns about the draft and a lot and today a lot of my questions have been answered but deferring it to the next round of meeting allows them that same opportunity oh excuse me allows them that same opportunity I acknowledge in surak was up earlier this year but I think out of respect to the representatives of the committee and to their wealth of knowledge there were 40 members who essentially represented every water user Noosa River water user. So I think it would be just the right thing to do to invite them for feedback and ideally endorsement of the draft plan as you know we've all witnessed just now there are lots of issues implied unknown implications, confusion. Concerns so so the deferrals not only to allow feedback from the NSERAC but it's also to allow Councillors and what I'd be requesting is a further workshop for all the Councillors again to understand the is first time is the first time the draft has come to our attention the full draft and I've got you know as everyone can see a thousand and I look at detail and I need to be certain that a that all river stakeholders maintain equitable access to the river and that all the key players partake in this draft it's important and it is certainly exciting it's a plan that needs to be endorsed but I just think we've waited so long can we just allow another month so that we can just dispel spell confirm whatever just the unknowns or what I call the confusion so I'll leave it to the table but my request is defer the motion for the next round of meetings to allow all players and Councillors to have a say and understand again the details and implications of what's been put before us.

Frank Wilkie140:59

Look, I'll speak to appreciate where this is coming from because this is a very important document with a lot of detail. It's a very significant piece of work. It'll take a lot of time to develop. And it's very difficult to get across all the detail. There's so many pages. But is opportunity between now and the Ordinary Meeting on Thursday night for Councillors that have any. Outstanding questions to sit down with staff. If think it's merited, we can have a briefing session submitted along with that on June 22nd where we talk through the key actions. No questions are off the table. We've got the final draft before us. We can thrash that up between now and Thursday. But I agree, this is a leadership decision. We've after so many years, we've had a period of consultation during this term. There's been targeted stakeholder consultation. I agree with what's been said. It is a fantastic document. It will be endorsed at this round of meetings. Allow staff to start applying for the funding. And unlike other catchments in South East Queensland, Noosa doesn't have a river catchment plan. And if we're waiting for all get buy-in from all members of the community, it's not going to happen because there's so many diverse stakeholders involved. And therein lies the difficulty for decision makers such as us. You're never going to get consensus on something like this. There are some things that various stakeholders will like and those won't and vice versa. So seeking to delay this to get a consensus I think is a bit unrealistic. And I think the staff recommendations suggest ongoing. Dialogue with key stakeholders to have the sort of discussions we've had today at this table about the suggested action to consider a conservation park and what that means, the benefits, the pros and cons and dispel the uncertainties. I think this is a great invitation to a conversation with the key stakeholders. This is a great piece of work. I think I'm in favour of showing leadership, backing the process so far, putting it out, endorsing it, letting the staff get on with applying for much needed funding and having those conversations with stakeholders and any Councillors that do have outstanding questions to seek the time one-on take hours if you need it to get the detail you need before it clears overnight. So for those reasons, because we've got a lot of other work we need to endorse before the end of this term, so for that reason I won't be supporting this motion to defer for an you very much. It because honour. I don't know where that might lead. Will it lead to another, because it's, will there be more dissension that it leads to further dilemmas. So I'll be glad to hear from you.