Resource Recovery Area Expansion

Frank Wilkie94:07

The motion goes in favour. That's unanimous. Thank you Mr CEO and Shaun. Care for a five minute break before we continue? Or we push on to push this last question? Because it's confidential. Hang on for another 10-15 minutes. Alright, we can push on. We'll do the resource recovery area expansion. Welcome mark and Kyrone.

Will do. Thank you for your time. So the report is in two parts. So the first part of the report outlines the history of lot 77. So that's the Noosa, Eumundi Road landfill and resource recovery centre. So it's a 322 hectare lot and was originally designed as community infrastructure recognising the criticality of landfills in managing our waste. So the report goes into the history over the last 15 years whereby Council by resolution has designated over 76% of the site and repurposed it as nature refuge so that's providing conservation in perpetuity to over 67 76 percent of the lot so that was by Council resolution in 2007 and more recently in 2021 so that was by Council resolution in 2007 and more recently in 2021 so the remaining land is currently undergoing a comprehensive master plan process through the waste team we're exploring different options in terms of waste technologies which were outlined in the waste plan that was adopted a couple months ago however there's an immediate priority to expand the resource recovery area through clearing one hectare of vegetation to address an immediate priority so the second half of the report goes into some details around the priority and the need so it's around I guess the resource recovery area tonnage of waste that's been going through their year-on since 2008 and the increase in tonnage has resulted in some space requirements and restrictions which has implications around safety on site that we need to address and the other element is around our environmental compliance on site and so the proposed expansion is to allow for an improved High-Efficiency Sediment Basin (HES) so that's a High-Efficiency Sediment Basin which will be in is proposed to go in the location where the vegetation will be cleared and this is the only location available on site given the topography of the land. So we've lodged a development application for the expansion addressing clearing of vegetation requirements and around construction. Of the High-Efficiency Sediment Basin (HES) the application addresses details around the vegetation proposed offsets on site and will be independently assessed through the planning team so it's anticipated team it's so anticipated that report will be presented to Council early next year so the recommended that recommendation today is that Council note the report to the General Committee raising the challenges and constraints associated with the current site and benefits associated with the proposed resource recovery area expansion.

Yeah so it was raised more recently through the floods last year and the Department of Environment so Noosa Council holds a license that was called an environmental authority over the activities there's environmental risks associated with operating a landfill and resource recovery area so and part of that has a whole host of conditions around our management of environmental risks one of them being surface water runoff with sediment so it's been identified on various times through the Department of Environment that our current high efficiency sediment basin is under capacity and it's proposed that this new basin will meet that requirement and future proof the site for flooding and managing our environmental risks on site but yes it's been raised by the Department of Environment and that's why we're bringing it forward as a priority.

Brian Stockwell100:57

Because do it's I say do not with me to because it's not me with to move me to on. Move a motion to clear the motion to clear the actually up the serious bit is actually following on from what the manager of waste just outlined. The graph that highlights Figure 4, key recoverable waste items. I'm not exactly sure which year we introduced compulsory green waste but it looks like since about mid last we've term had that result in an annual increase of between four and five thousand tons of green waste to be processed but the big mover actually since that time is concrete and it looks like since 2016 it's gone for about fifteen thousand tons per year. Now that's a large body of material. To try and process safely and while we've said many times that our emissions from the landfill is generated by the green waste anaerobic digestion concrete has a significant greenhouse gas footprint so that the globally the concrete industry is looking for options so recycling and reuse of that concrete it has got an overall positive environmental benefit but I think that the key message here is that yes we do have to clear an area vegetation but it is within an area identified for these purposes and Council has well and truly got a history of maintaining the most ecological sensitive and valuable parts of that big allotment into a nature refuge and when we look at environmental impact we can't just look at one of the impacts we have to look at the overall net positive and in this case failure to have a sediment basin to capture the sediments off the resource recovery area has the potential for long-term serious sedimentation of the downstream aquatic habitats and there are species of significance and vegetation and wetlands of significance downstream that if we left it as is would be impacted. Yes, the clearing of trees will have a localised impact but the longer term benefit of managing our waste streams and our resource recoverable area in a more sustainable fashion my mind probably gets to a net positive of this action. And for me, we will have to have a look from a development control perspective as the assessors of what's specifically proposed. But at this stage in general terms, my view is that this is the most content approach to handling that increasing volume of recoverable material that we're seeing in this location and ensuring that the downstream impacts of are managed appropriately.

Thanks for bringing that to our attention, an understanding of earning our ERA obligations. As we go to environmental controls and the current base and not being able to handle those events. Not every day I want to push for those events so they come to us and they need to expand. That area. There's a technical element to that we'll deal with when the planning development application comes before us with an independent review, thank you. But the need to master plan our master plan our waste facility going forward the changes that will be coming with regard to waste management and resource recovery more so for the future so that we're not relying on a whole lot of grant. We do actually capture and return as much and create the super economy that's going to be created here is very much appreciated. The work that's needed here and the concerns raised are valid and we thank you for doing that. Over and upward progression with our waste master plan, go for it.