Services & Organisation Committee Meeting - October 2023
Date: Tuesday, 10 October 2023 at 1:30PM
Location: Noosa Shire Council Chambers , 9 Pelican Street , Tewantin , QLD 4565 , Australia
Organiser: Noosa Shire Council
Duration: 01:21:32
Synopsis: Waste Plan adopted prioritizing diversion and organics processing, Rising levy pass-through acknowledged, Landfill life extended via diversion, Disaster Plan with tech upgrades approved, Caretaker constraints clarified.
Meeting Attendees
Committee Members
Amelia Lorentson Joe Jurisevic Clare Stewart Frank Wilkie
Non-Committee Members
Executive Officers
Acting Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock Director Corporate Services Trent Grauf Acting Director Infrastructure Services Shaun Walsh
AI-Generated Meeting Insight
Key Decisions & Discussions Adopted Waste Plan 2023–2028: Council unanimously endorsed “From Waste to Resource,” emphasizing avoidance, reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery, and last-resort disposal (Item 5.1; 36:06, 33:46). Waste levy impacts: Officers confirmed QLD waste levy now $105/t (2023–24) rising to $145/t by 1 July 2027, with phased pass-through to domestic waste, driving cost pressures unless landfill diversion increases (04:59–06:36; Item 5.1). Landfill life: 49 years remaining based on current inputs; growth would reduce this unless diversion infrastructure expands; collaboration with Gympie via MOU to scale shared assets (07:47–09:49, 11:04–12:32; Item 5.1). Emissions profile: Food waste is ~40% of residual stream but produces ~63% of Council’s emissions; plan actions include technology and feasibility studies for organics processing (e.g., AD/biogas) (16:22–17:38; Item 5.1). Waste-to-energy exploration: Council and COMSEQ partners investigating WtE to make landfill “last port of call,” potentially extending landfill life dramatically (13:57–14:55; Item 5.1). Tourism & circular economy: Plastic Free Noosa cited as effective; Council positions infrastructure to back behavioral change, including polystyrene recovery and Containers for Change (12:32–13:57, 32:10–33:46; Item 5.1). Public place bins: Proposal to align bin ratios, compaction, and sensors across precincts to cut litter and facilitate recycling/organics, integrating with plan actions (17:53–20:12; Item 5.1). Consultation: Two-phase process with 828 surveys; strong support for hierarchy and circular principles; plan updated to reflect feedback, branding, and new actions (02:29–04:10, 21:05–22:27; Item 5.1). Adopted Disaster Management Plan 2023: Repeals 2018 plan; devolves sub-plan updates/approvals to the LDMG for agility; Get Ready materials tabled (Item 5.2; 37:15–39:09, 01:02:12–01:03:27). Technology & comms uplift: AI smoke-detection cameras (Shire-wide coverage), new VHF comms network, and upgraded flood monitoring to provide local catchment alerts (44:25–47:39; Item 5.2). Supplier lists approved: Amended Sole and Specialised Supplier Lists adopted for 12 months under LG Regulation exceptions; examples include software/IP and time-sensitive planning expertise (01:11:27–01:17:07; Item 5.3). Meeting schedule Jan–Mar 2024: Approved with clarification on caretaker constraints and potential proximity to election; only BAU/operational matters permitted in caretaker period (01:18:12–01:21:03; Item 5.4). Contentious / Transparency Matters Devolution of sub-plan approvals to LDMG: Improves nimbleness but shifts routine oversight from full Council; officers stated this aligns with other LGs and is effectively current practice (01:02:12–01:03:27; Item 5.2). Waste levy pass-through to residents: Explicit acknowledgment that domestic customers will bear an increasing share over five years; Council’s mitigation rests on diversion success (05:29–06:19; Item 5.1). Public place organics bins: Discussion foreshadows a third-stream; caution raised about matching behavior change with back-end processing to maintain public trust (20:12–21:05; Item 5.1). Supplier list churn: Questions on removals (e.g., Adamas, UQ) clarified as market changes or service no longer required; annual review noted (01:14:54–01:16:10; Item 5.3). Legal / Risk Statutory compliance: Waste strategy required under State law; Disaster Plan under Disaster Management Act 2003; procurement exceptions under Local Government Act 2009 and Regulation 2012 (07:37; 38:14–39:09; 01:11:27–01:12:54; Items 5.1–5.3). Caretaker limitations: From election call (~29 Jan 2024 expected), only business-as-usual/operational decisions; mitigates probity risk of major commitments (01:18:47–01:20:48; Item 5.4). Financial exposure from levy: Rising levy materially increases landfill costs; Council’s risk posture hinges on timely organics diversion and potential WtE to avoid fee shocks (04:59–06:36; Item 5.1). Disaster tech maturity: Fire-tech camera system is in commissioning; risk of false positives/coverage gaps acknowledged, with regional collaboration to improve resilience (44:33–47:39; Item 5.2). Environmental incident readiness: Lessons from polystyrene spill; marine debris kits and spill response capacity being built but not yet fully in place, indicating residual exposure (54:12–55:42; Item 5.2). Conflicts of Interest Amelia Lorentson: Declared a declarable COI as spouse employed by Page Furnishers proposed for Specialised Supplier List; she left the room and **Clare Stewart** chaired for this item (01:10:19–01:12:54; Item 5.3). Process integrity: Appointment of Acting Chair and unanimous decision recorded, aligning with Chapter 5B LG Act conflict-handling requirements (Item 5.3; 01:11:27–01:17:07). Environmental Concerns UNESCO Biosphere obligations: Members linked waste emissions (63% from landfill) to “do no harm” commitments, reinforcing urgency of diversion and circular systems (33:46–35:33; Item 5.1). Organics diversion benefits: Reduces methane and supports regenerative outputs (compost, biogas), delivering climate and cost co-benefits (16:22–17:38; Item 5.1). Pollution & Spill Response Beach debris incidents: LDMG includes an Environmental Restoration Coordinator; marine cleanup kits and procedures are in progress following polystyrene spill lessons (54:12–55:42; Item 5.2). Dashboard alerts: Disaster dashboard centralizes hazard info (smoke, closures) and Noosa Alert notifications to residents for rapid communications (01:05:08–01:06:53; Item 5.2). Community Transparency & Engagement Waste plan engagement: 828 survey responses across two phases; plan updated with visible change log and strengthened stewardship advocacy (02:29–04:10, 22:20–23:05; Item 5.1). Disaster readiness outreach: Extensive school, aged care, and small business programs; Get Ready event with 13 partners and household kits promotes self-reliance (49:20–01:07:41; Item 5.2). Tourism partnership: Plastic Free Noosa and industry collaboration recognized as model behavior change backed by processing infrastructure (12:32–13:57; Item 5.1). Election/Caretaker Period Meeting continuity: Ordinary meeting may occur the Thursday before election; cancellable if no business, but BAU reports likely; workshops limited to non-foundational items (01:19:05–01:20:48; Item 5.4). Public guidance: Clarified caretaker timing and constraints to ensure probity and avoid major policy shifts pre-election (01:18:47–01:20:20; Item 5.4).
Official Meeting Minutes
MINUTES Services & Organisation Committee Meeting Tuesday, 10 October 2023 1:30 PM Council Chambers, 9 Pelican Street, Tewantin Committee: Crs Amelia Lorentson (Chair), Joe Jurisevic, Clare Stewart, Frank Wilkie “Noosa Shire – different by nature” SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 10 OCTOBER 2023 1. ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cr Amelia Lorentson (Chair) Cr Joe Jurisevic Cr Clare Stewart Cr Frank Wilkie NON COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cr Tom Wegener EXECUTIVE Acting Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock Director Corporate Services Trent Grauf Acting Director Infrastructure Services Shaun Walsh APOLOGIES Nil The meeting opened at 1.32pm. 2. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES Committee Resolution Moved: Cr Clare Stewart Seconded: Cr Frank Wilkie The Minutes of the Services & Organisation Committee Meeting held on 12 September 2023 be received and confirmed. Carried unanimously. 3. PRESENTATIONS Nil. 4. DEPUTATIONS Nil. 5. REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE COMMITTEE SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 10 OCTOBER 2023 5.1. FINAL WASTE PLAN 2023 - 2028 Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Frank Wilkie Seconded: Cr Joe Jurisevic That Council note the report by the Manager Waste and Environmental Health to the Services and Organisation Committee Meeting dated 10 October 2023 and adopt the From Waste to Resource Waste Plan 2023 – 2028. Carried unanimously. 5.2. ENDORSEMENT OF NOOSA LOCAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN 2023 The following material was distributed to the meeting in relation to this item: o Disaster Management Officer – refer to Attachment 1 - Get Ready Pack Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Clare Stewart Seconded: Cr Joe Jurisevic That Council note the report by the Disaster Management Officer to the Services & Organisation Committee Meeting dated 10 October 2023 and: A. Repeal the Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan 2018; B. Adopt the Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan 2023 as provided at Attachment 1 to the Endorsement of the Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan 2023 report; and C. Devolve responsibility for updating and approving the operational Sub-Plans of the Local Disaster Management 2023 to the Noosa Local Disaster Management Group. Carried unanimously. 5.3. NOOSA SHIRE COUNCIL SOLE AND SPECIALISED LISTS In accordance with Chapter 5B of the Local Government Act 2009, Cr Lorentson provided the following declaration to the meeting of a declarable conflict of interest in this matter: I, Cr Lorentson, inform the meeting that I have a declarable conflict of interest in this matter as my husband, Chris Lorentson, is an employee of Page Furnishers Pty Ltd who are proposed to be included on the Specialised Supplier List. As a result of my conflict of interest I will now leave the meeting room while the matter is considered and voted on. Cr Lorentson left the meeting. Committee Resolution SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 10 OCTOBER 2023 Moved: Cr Frank Wilkie Seconded: Cr Joe Jurisevic That Cr Stewart be appointed as Acting Chairperson of the meeting for this item for the purpose of considering the conflict of interest declaration by Cr Lorentson. Carried unanimously. Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Clare Stewart Seconded: Cr Joe Jurisevic That Council note the report by the Procurement and Contracts Advisor to the Services & Organisation Committee Meeting dated 10 October 2023 and A. Adopt the amended Sole Supplier list provided at Attachment 1 of the report for the next twelve (12) months; and B. Adopt the amended Specialised Supplier list provided at Attachment 2 of the report for the next twelve (12) months. Carried unanimously. Cr Lorentson returned to the meeting and resumed the Chair. 5.4. COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE – JANUARY TO MARCH 2024 Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Amelia Lorentson Seconded: Cr Joe Jurisevic That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer (Acting) to the Services & Organisation Committee Meeting dated 10 October 2023 and approve the Council Meeting schedule for January-March 2024 as set out in Attachment 1 to the Report. Carried unanimously. 6. REPORTS FOR NOTING BY THE COMMITTEE Nil. 7. CONFIDENTIAL SESSION Nil. 8. MEETING CLOSURE The meeting closed at 2.53pm.
Meeting Transcript
Amelia Lorentson 00:00.000
First, I'd like to begin by an Acknowledgement to Country. I would like to respectfully acknowledge the Kabi Kabi People as the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters that form the region that we call Noosa. Council pays its respects to elders past, present and emerging and welcomes the ongoing role that Indigenous people play within the Noosa community. Attendance and apology. First I'd like to note that everyone is in attendance that is the Mayor Clare Stewart, Councillor Joe Jurisevic and Deputy Mayor Councillor Frank Wilkie. I also note that Councillor Tom Wegener is in the gallery and I don't think Councillor Finzel, she's not online? No, so Councillor Finzel not online. Nor Councillor Stockwell. Before commencing the meeting can I please request that everyone have their phones on silent or turned off and also I would like to remind everyone around the table of their obligations under the Councillor Code of Conduct that we are respectful and to one another including staff. First I'd like to go to confirmation of minutes. Can I have a mover and a seconder? Thank you Clare Stewart. Councillor Wilkie. No discussion or in favour? Thank you. Presentations and deputations there are none and we'll go straight to the reports for consideration of committee meeting. Item 5.1 final waste plan 2023-2028. I'd like to welcome excuse me, Sir, I'm just giving you a promotion and you deserve one. Carefully, you're putting in a pay rise next. Any pay rise requests? I the future. So can I ask, before we start, are there any conflicts of interest? None. And Kyron, if you can start by just giving us a summary and overview of the final waste plan 2023-2028. You know, for the basement as
Kyron Dodds 02:29.760
Well. So, the waste plan that was developed involved a two-part consultation process conducted during February and March and August /September this year. Phase one sought community and stakeholder values in waste management and immunisation, shaping the two gathered additional insights on the draft waste plan itself, and in total we had 828 surveys in both phases of that process. Community feedback strongly supported vision and the waste hierarchy which is principles to avoiding. Avoid, reuse, recycle and dispose as the last resort. Those opposing the draft waste plan include. Concerns over rate increases are requested off kerbside. Opposition collection services that already composted food waste and opposition to change. However, the overall plan received very strong support for encouraging personal responsibility. Advocating to reduce waste at source, innovation. And ensuring that appropriate infrastructure and operations are in place to support waste reuse and recycling. The plan also received strong support to promote circular economy and to reduce the cost to the community of landfilling material and that material can be used as a resource for potential revenue generation. Ways-- changes to the draft waste plan include design modifications in line with community Council branding, additional wording and advocacy for product stewardship schemes and new actions related to food waste and construction and demolition waste. Fantastic.
Amelia Lorentson 04:10.466
Councillors, questions? For Kyron.
Joe Jurisevic 04:14.939
Thank you, for a comprehensive plan and a Roadmap going forward for the changes that need to be done and an of change that has to be implemented. One of those-- one of the reasons that we have to implement that is the impact of the Queensland government's state waste levy. And I'm reading here it was sent to land currently $85 per tonne, increasing $95 a tonne this year. So what is the implication of the state's waste levy on what currently goes into landfill?
Kyron Dodds 04:59.347
So currently the actual waste levy this year, this financial year is $105. So that is applied to commercial waste, customs.
Joe Jurisevic 05:09.107
So it's $23.24, so it was $95 and $22.23. That's the $10 increase that's mentioned annually until it goes to $145 a tonne. So what's the impact of that $95 to $105, all the way up by the 1st of July 2027 going to do to the cost of landfill?
Kyron Dodds 05:29.785
In a nutshell it will increase the cost of our public. It started this year in July, so the State government have introduced a percentage of that levy that we have to rebate the State. Think that equates to five dollars, but I'm not entirely sure how much, about five to six dollars per tonne and that increases over the next five years until it's the full cost of the levy and that gets applied to our domestic customers.
Joe Jurisevic 05:57.512
But yeah until now it's only been applied to commercial and from this year it gets applied to domestic services so they'll be just based on that state levy there'll be a change to the cost of implementation of all continuing the service where we landfill
Kyron Dodds 06:16.582
Actual cost of the collections or anything doesn't is not affected but the costs are going through our land for our levy zone so there's a dedicated earmarked zone on the site anything that goes into that zone which we have to track and report on newly attracts that levy.
Joe Jurisevic 06:36.247
So what's the obvious way for, I can turn around and do this, and the thing that the plan delivers for the public to consider to avoid the increases and to manage the costs of things going to landfill?
Kyron Dodds 06:52.013
It's to look at waste differently and I think that's what we're trying to do with the strategy, waste in particular outside of Queensland and Australia. As much as in brazil. Should we stop calling it waste? Yes, I think it's a good start. Thank you. It's only waste if we waste it. If we put it in a landfill, we're wasting an energy value of some sort.
Joe Jurisevic 07:15.886
And potentially creating a greenhouse gas that we can't, that we currently can't deal with.
Amelia Lorentson 07:25.740
I've got a bunch of questions and I won't ask them all at once. I'll leave it to the table. But before we go on, why do we have to develop a waste plan? Is it obligatory? Yes, we have in terms of, I'm referencing page 18 of the plan. The figures are really stubborn. I'll just pull out page 18. Landfill site, 49 years remaining in the landfill life. 49 years is not that far away. Have we included in those numbers, you know, the potential impact of the, a population or dwelling increase? So the SEQ regional draft plan had population and dwelling forecast. How did those numbers? Are realised, 19,900, 10,000 the first three years, how does that change the data that we're looking at and has that been considered as part of the plan?
Kyron Dodds 08:44.527
So we haven't included the data in the model, but it will. Would reduce the years, there's no doubt. The tonnage is directly related to pollination, so you have a strong correlation of those years will reduce. Unless, what it also doesn't include is the fact that we're actively. Trying to divert material as we go along. So the model looks at if we carry on with the current rate of material to landfill, we've got 50 years left. We are actively reducing that year by If we increase, introduce infrastructure to divert further, then it should lengthen. But obviously, if we increase population, that adds to the timeshift.
Amelia Lorentson 09:33.164
Questions?
Frank Wilkie 09:34.054
Yeah, thank you. Kyron, on page nine, there's an amount 2021 costs of 147 per tonne of waste going to landfill. That's operational costs, isn't it? Yes. Not the waste levy. No, that's our cost to put one tonne of material into the ground. And that's actually. It's increased since then. What are the costs now? Approximately. $200. It's gone up that much in two years. There's also on page nine a really interesting figure, which is the amount of household waste the average Australian produces every year of 543 kilograms. We've got a an aspirational goal to reduce the amount produced per Noosa person resident to below that significantly below that but there opinion an omission from this report about what is the rate generated per Noosa resident. But seems to be in my I understand there are difficulties around
SPEAKER_02_b 10:38.925
Calculating that could you just talk us through the variables that make it very difficult to include that figure please.
Kyron Dodds 10:46.205
But there natural thing of got from the statistics. To calculate it locally we would need to understand exactly who is a local and who is non-local coming out of our language. It's internal coming into the landfill as well. From outside the Shire. From the outside of the Shire. So it's very difficult to get the resources and the equipment and technology to do that right now. We also have one million tourist population per year. And what percentage of that and B&Bs and so forth add into that domestic change is not quite clear as well. So what we do know is the number is higher than our national average. Is putting that into accurate terms, is we can do that in support?
Frank Wilkie 11:36.212
Yes. And you mentioned that there's waste coming from outside the Shire into our landfill, which affects the figures. But collaboration is a big part of the strategy going forward, isn't it? Can you just talk about the sort of collaboration that's going on with them? So we've got an MOU with Gympie that was
Kyron Dodds 11:54.908
Signed six months ago. We have had our first pedestal, a steering group that meeting about a month ago. We've got one this Friday. We have a weekly working group meeting with our opposite numbers in Gympie and we're currently looking at all the infrastructure at the time. Tonnages between the two councils that would potentially make some of these projects viable, which is key. And that's shared infrastructure, resource. Support us in the funding area which is critical for CoMSEQ and that collaboration as well.
Frank Wilkie 12:32.304
Mentioned also the 1.8 million visitors per year which are having. They're playing a part in generating extra waste that can't be attributed. Yeah. So part of the problem, they're also solution, the tourism industry. Could you talk about the collaboration with that's underway to help address some of that? Yeah, so tourism in Noosa would
Kyron Dodds 12:55.959
Be, I think, excellent. They're Plastic Free Noosa, the way, that's been a model that's been used outside of Noosa, and I think the way they've delivered that is a model we can use to see if they'll be able to change going forward. So what they've done I think has been excellent. I think our role particularly around this strategy is. The infrastructure that sits behind that behavioural change. So if we make a difference, and we do something different, we need to have that infrastructure to support that
SPEAKER_02_b 13:25.887
Material when it's processing.
Frank Wilkie 13:30.848
And in the waste hierarchy, it's often referred to avoidance, reusing, recycling and disposal. But there's also another line that's in the report that hasn't been mentioned yet, is recover. Can you talk about what that step involves? It's quite exciting. In the material space? Yeah. Sorry, recovery. And also isn't it waste-to-energy?
Kyron Dodds 13:57.039
Yes, so waste-to-energy. Is a very interesting space terms of taking the typical residual waste that's left over after you've removed recycling organics, green waste and anything else that could be recovered and turned into another material or reprocessed. The last position before you put it into a landfill should be extract the energy that's within material to produce energy. And we're actively talking with CoMSEQ well as our neighbours in that space through the MOU and I think it's an exciting space because once we are in that area of looking at that type of technology suddenly our landfill becomes the last port of call and 50 years could become 150,200 years or even better.
Frank Wilkie 14:55.622
Yeah, one more question if I'm not in chat. The feedback from the community is that taking personal responsibility for our waste is widely supported and advocated for. In japan there are no bins in the streets and the streets are very litter free. Is that an example of residents taking very strong, not saying that's going to happen here, but that's an example of what can be achieved when personal responsibility is taken very seriously.
Kyron Dodds 15:26.145
Yeah, that's the gold standard. We're quite away from but I think that's the intention. We can get personal responsibility and that goes across all facets of waste. In terms of buying something you don't need and disposing of something the wrong way, effectively you're making a difference with the actions that you make personally. And that's the message we're trying to get through and we'll be part of the behavioural change going forward. Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_01 16:00.081
Kyron, when I was doing some radio around this, it was some of the stats were interesting food scraps, that 40% of what takes about landfills from food scraps, and it takes years for a lettuce to break down. So what can we do in that space without food scraps? Because I know that is the issue and what is the plan specifically?
Kyron Dodds 16:22.512
The bulk of our emissions are generated from predominantly food waste. We removed green waste 2017 as a Council. We're probably one of the leaders in Queensland for doing that, if not first, but the next organic stream that goes into the landfill is very much of that. 40% that goes in, not only from their bins, but from commercial customs, that generates 63 of council's emissions. We've got actions in the strategy to review technology that can process emissions. That food waste, and look at the infrastructure and potential building of the infrastructure with our partners at some location. Once we pull that material again, it has an energy value and we can extract that energy and utilise that to produce green power, rehydrogen, biogas, a number of different alternatives. But that's the intention. I guess the next stage after the strategy is to get into feasibility studies of some of the projects, which we've actively already started in some schools, in some aspects.
SPEAKER_01 17:39.210
Idea plan, is that the one?
Kyron Dodds 17:40.987
AD plan, we're looking at organic treatment, solar power, we've already started those feasibility studies.
Amelia Lorentson 17:50.007
Thank you. Councillor Joe, you've got a question?
Joe Jurisevic 17:53.507
Yeah, I was reading through some of the feedback that was given and one of the ones that's a long time and I've advocated for was a review of bins. And I read under litter avoidance here, 3.1, 3.2, but one thing that was missing there under litter avoidance was bin management, public place bin management. But I noticed that under precinct management, 5.1 review precinct waste management opportunities for innovation including inclusive of bin ratios, compaction bins, bin level sensors, bins overflowing, that's how litter starts, you know, bins are overflowing, if we prevent that but also making bins available, the right bins available. I've often said there's a an imbalance in the number of general waste bins to recycle bins. If we want people to recycle more, we really have to provide the right balance and facilitation of those bins and if we go into composting, we'll be looking at a third public place bin potentially. I'm just wondering whether that point 5.1 can be added as 3. And reiterated. Under litter avoidance because it is a litter avoidance mechanism it's a minor thing yeah but I think that reiterating that point under litter avoidance precinct waste but it shouldn't only be in um in the major precincts I think we should apply the level of bin ratios and the need for compaction bins and level sensors and understanding if bins are overflowing anywhere across the Shire that we understand that occurs is that the opportunity going forward with regard to public place bins is to facilitate each of the strains better than we currently do and the potential for, I don't know, is a third public place bin for compostable waste? Considering Plastic Free Noosa has done such an amazing job of getting retailers on board in the Hastings Street precinct and Gympie Terrace and the junction of most of our tourism precincts around to go away from plastic containers and have compostable containers. Is that where we need to go?
Kyron Dodds 20:12.789
I think long term the bin infrastructure should match our infrastructure. That's what we've got to get to. So be careful with behavioural we don't have the infrastructure that sits behind that behavioural change otherwise we can potentially get a customer to do something that we can't support.
Joe Jurisevic 20:36.321
We lose the faith that people have in the current system of saying well I put my recyclables in that bin but I know that you know I don't see that truck going deliver to recyclables. I see it going to the landfill. Some misapprehension of whether you know like the truck that goes on Hastings Street which has two compartments. The other element of that question and I've just lost my train throw in another question, I'll see if there's anyone else who has another back to where I was going.
Amelia Lorentson 21:04.736
I want to comment on the engagement process. It was excellent. So really, really well done. In terms of all the surveys submitted I've just 828 and I did a little bit of research on you know sample size and what's considered a good margins of error and how and 828 is ranked really high and if my research is correct margin of error is 3% and that's you know something really excellent my question is can you just talk us through the engagement process did we engage an external consultant or was a lot of it done in house
Kyron Dodds 21:55.395
Yeah I think thanks for the credit I think actually it's the same so Joe ferris and the team were key to that contemplation process team members shared the work comms on the process and yeah I think it's great to see most of that has been done could
Amelia Lorentson 22:20.171
You please extend congratulations them it's great brilliant Joe has your question come back to you
Joe Jurisevic 22:27.711
Along the lines of yeah again with the sort of feedback with regard to the draft plan and what we see here have we taken on board comments from the public and the feedback that we've got and how are they implemented or shown within the final plan there's bold a summary of the summary of changes in that last section there and including in bold is directly relating to the questions or the points that have been raised thank you one
Amelia Lorentson 23:04.639
More question will Noosa Council lead by example will Council introduce low-waste policy and will that get extended into sustainability procurement and will we look at this resource recovery facilities at all our facilities not just at the depot if
Kyron Dodds 23:27.470
I've got any if I've got anything to do with it absolutely be waste of land to look at yeah well I think if you look far enough ahead it's going to be a discussion with a consultant work in building on that they have rather than hiding their waste precincts away they are actually advocating and showing off their glass have IBM machines in there and looks what it looks like they're promoting building closure rather than closing it off and I think that sort of mentality actually is not a bad idea of getting the right response to the cycle you
Joe Jurisevic 24:17.682
Try have to encourage the correct the behaviour that you're trying to instil into the population happy to move the recommendation I'm happy to second it I was it
Amelia Lorentson 24:32.125
Speaking, I'd like to ask Councillor Tom Wegener, you've got your hand up, would you like to ask some questions, please?
Tom Wegener 24:41.025
Yeah, do you think, I guess if I put my comment you think that this is the biggest change that our term as Councillors and as staff has brought to Noosa Council? Because it is a phenomenal change from when we came here to the way strategy, today. So, thank just like to congratulate you and mark Carroll on coming on board. This is a big win for us.
Amelia Lorentson 25:10.813
Who would like to speak?
Frank Wilkie 25:13.153
I moved it, so I'll speak. Thanks for answering the questions. Kyron, please congratulate the staff. I thought it was a very well-written, clear strategy that used simple language and didn't hide the hard truths of where we are at and the work, the large task ahead of us. So, please pass on the congratulations. To the team yeah
Joe Jurisevic 25:32.212
Thank you oh, okay, that's it? You don't need to go on. Yeah, I'll speak yes, Councillor Tom, you're right. This is the biggest transitional move 10 years the making of my time here on Council to see these things being implemented into a Waste Strategy and the way forward to change the concept of waste. It's not waste. It is a resource. And the more that we can understand and value that it's we can continue to advocate for changes where waste gets generated by manufacturers that don't have a process for accepting those products that they generate back, that creates a need for landfill, more we have to push for change higher up the chain. Fortunately the Australian Federal government and the State government, 20 years behind most of the southern I states might add, and starting to implement the strategies and the processes that will facilitate this change going forward. We can no longer see landfill as a viable option it has to be the exception rather than the rule and in fact if we can avoid it completely the one thing see some of the comments here with regard to what we need to do going forward we want to keep landfill waste charges down well the way is to look at what you take in what you purchase look at the what it's made of what it's life is don't buy the cheap junky stuff that is disposable let's stop being a disposable society and start taking responsibility for the waste that we generate let's bring our businesses on board help to facilitate change that we need I see so many businesses that could easily be saving themselves costs simply by segregating their waste and taking it and using the opportunities of waste that carries no charge and doesn't go into landfill and facilitating separation of that at the facility so that they don't incorporate charges where uh recycled goods like paper and cardboard and that don't fill up the bin we know that 40 to 50 percent of what goes into the general waste bin is organic matter. That shouldn't be in there if you can't compost at home okay we need to have a have an alternative and if that doesn't go into landfill and doesn't continue to generate landfill gases well it becomes a resource that can go back out into regenerative farming the way in the future is to turn around and acknowledge that compost is as good if not a better form of fertiliser for land management than any of the ones that we purchase commercially and acquire from other forms of product we've been using in our backyard for years it's not rocket science it's back to fundamentals as a society we understood that when necessity was the driver post-war in particular but through those commercialised and consumer driven years and an american society is a lot to do with that with through the 70s and 80s of consumerism that we started to a society of throwaway that has to stop through this and I was one of the Councillors at the amalgamation that advocated for the return of the kerbside cleanup service but my time here in and through the understanding of taking responsibility for the waste you generate and I applauded you it here I applaud that we finally made the commitment that service is no longer a viable service to deliver. I appreciate that people have had that service and rely on that service but this is the 21st century and we have so many alternatives to putting it out on the street and making it somebody else's responsibility. To take it away. We've everybody uses that. If it's got any real value and you're going to put somebody will take it, sure. But we have charity organisations that will help facilitate that, help facilitate a need for those that actually need these products. You can talk to your neighbours and say, "I've got this." Go and actually walk down the street and let your neighbours know you've got something to give away. Maybe they'll take it. We've got the garage sale trail. We've got garage sales. We've got, you know, social media and social marketing. We've got so many opportunities to dispose of valuable goods if you no longer want them than just throwing them out and expecting somebody else to do it. Challenge comes in delivering a service like that. You want to talk about keeping costs down. It's an expensive service to deliver for the community and only a small percentage of the community realistically utilise it. But the other element is the people that abuse the service, the cost of service from being available. Run we can't have people dumping as business and streets being used as rubbish tips. It's just not the way in this day and age and it's of the future. We really need to, and this outlays it. Take responsibility. The rubbish that we generate. There are so many methods to explain in this Waste Strategy for the future going forward for people to avoid the need for that sort of mindset and way to avoid cost of waste services in the future is to adhere to the ideas and the concepts that this strategy delivers and I want to congratulate staff and all those that had a hand in putting this together I said many of these areas delivery things that I've been advocating in my time on Council and I've had many in the community asked me to advocate for these services to be delivered and I'm pleased to say that this Waste Strategy will deliver this for our community in the future. Thank you. To your team and all that were involved.
Amelia Lorentson 32:06.031
Thank you, Jo, that was well said. Mayor Stewart.
Clare Stewart 32:10.451
Thank you, Kyron. I want to reiterate everyone's thanks and appreciation to you, mark, Jo and all the team. Tom, I think it is something that we should be incredibly proud of. This is the 2023-2028 from waste to resource waste plan. It's not the 2012.2016, 2020. So I think it's something that all of this Council and at this table and indeed all of the Councillors can really hang their hats on. Know, with such a wonderful team, Kyron and led by you, really have been a game changer. We're looking at real, meaningful, tangible results from this Waste Strategy. The containers for change. We've got that. We've got the polystyrene thermal compacting machine. We have an MOU with Gympie to make some real meaningful collaboration and changes in this to share resources, costs, share opportunities. With having joined the Council of Mayors, an opportunity now to be part of the big picture. And as we can see, the State government is so important in this space and advocating and working together as a South East Queensland Council of Mayors for waste and to get finance, to get resources the funds, I think is incredibly powerful. It's really important. It's fundamental and central to our Waste Strategy going forward. That evident. So I want to thank you and the team and Councillor Wegener. I agree wholeheartedly. This is something that I'm incredibly proud of that we've delivered in this term of Council, but not without the skill, expertise and knowledge of all staff. Please, Thank you. Guys. It's been a huge team effort. We appreciate it. Thank you.
Amelia Lorentson 33:46.249
I'll just add a couple of extra things. You know, in the report it actually states that two guys seven, this is designated the UNESCO status for a biosphere. And with that comes obligations, and the obligations, you know, protecting, conserving our environment, or said another way-- no harm. When I go through the draft report, you know, the numbers are really just slightly. 63 of emissions come from our landfill. We've got 49 years left on our landfill site. And that doesn't, you know, consider potential population growth and dwelling growth. So the time to act is right now. And I think this is just an excellent Roadmap. Community. Even businesses. And I do want to shout out to the small local businesses who are already in this space. And I think the plan is a commitment that we are going to support them in minimising, reducing, recycling waste. And we've got a community with shared vision as Council. So again, thank you Kyron and the A-team, or WOW-team, law and waste team. Is a game changer and it's a really wonderful way to end this term at Council. Big tick from us to you and community to you. Absolutely. Thanks Kyron. Team.
SPEAKER_00 35:33.196
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 35:34.996
Yeah. Now about that directorship.
Frank Wilkie 35:39.384
Setting you up Kyron. We haven't closed this. So I'm going to put
Amelia Lorentson 35:48.084
All this to a vote.
Frank Wilkie 35:50.704
Not yet. Frank hasn't closed. Me. Mover. Look, I would only be reusing, recycling, recovering and disposing of things that have been said before around this table. So I won't say anything. Well done. All in favour?
Amelia Lorentson 36:08.012
Carried. That's right. Thank you, kyron. Two feet up as well. Well done, mate. Okay. Next we go to report five points. Noosa Nisha Shah Shire Council, sole and specialist list. No, no. Oh, excuse me. I jumped ahead. Disaster management. Be a Report 5.2, endorsement of Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan 2023. Firstly, I'm sorry, I'd like to. Introduce Shaun to the desk and Neil Ferris. Welcome to Noosa Council. And I'll get my name's out as our disaster resilience officer for the month as well. So actually have deliberately put out high copies. Because we thought you'd like one on your shelves. Thank it's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00 37:06.514
No, no, sorry, I'm into waste minimisation and I can't take paper.
Unknown 37:11.235
Thanks, Clare.
SPEAKER_01 37:12.994
Make an exception in this case, Jo. All right.
Amelia Lorentson 37:15.735
Before we start, can I ask any. Conflicts of interest? No.
Frank Wilkie 37:21.246
Thank you. Very much.
Amelia Lorentson 37:28.186
Thanks.
SPEAKER_03 37:29.326
And ian's also helping out to get ready to pack.
Amelia Lorentson 37:32.910
Let's go to the side of that, fine. Me. Thank you, Dan. Tom will park at 7:00am. In case anyone is listening at Pomona. 7:00. I'll give you a time here. Okay. I'm going to hand it over to Shaun. Can you give us an overview or a summary of the report in front of us?
Shaun Walsh 37:48.238
I'm actually going to put our new sales manager on the spot. Put him cool. And ask him to present the paper. Baptism of fire. We're very happy because we're very happy that he's commenced with this organisation and timely Stop that.
Neil Ferris 38:15.734
A hard act to follow, so it's a requirement of the- Disaster Management Act 2003, the work of the government develops in regular use of the plan to assist with effective disaster management for its area. That's what we're presenting today. It's the Local Disaster Management Plan. The last major assessment of the Noosa occurred in 2018. The plan is being rewritten to align with contemporary. Practice and use the Queensland emergency risk management framework, also known as QERMF. Methodology, and in consultation with emergency service providers and stakeholders. The plan was reviewed and endorsed by the Local Disaster Management Group in February 2023 and rebranded with the Council president. Of bremen.
Amelia Lorentson 39:08.225
Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Thanks Neil for this summary and I'm going to throw it to the. Councillors. Any questions?
Frank Wilkie 39:16.905
It's the best looking one I've ever seen. Beautiful design.
Shaun Walsh 39:21.849
I'd like to acknowledge the work of Sue Lowry and also Ian yance in compiling the whole consultation process before we go on to the stakeholders. Yes. And the emergency services as well as community groups.
Joe Jurisevic 39:32.737
It might have been a bit of work from the previous disaster management officer.
Frank Wilkie 39:36.056
Thank you. I just have a question about how has the risk management matrix changed since 2019?
SPEAKER_07 39:49.204
Predominantly for 2019 obviously with the fire focus because we've had a lot of flights since then to be honest with that five year cycle of recovery that we've been in, it's been grab the Chair before you a in the sense that we've gone fire, flood, pandemic, so the matrix in a sense has changed. I mean the relations with the procedures, but with the actual disaster.
Frank Wilkie 40:18.708
I mean likelihood of events, yes. Climate change.
SPEAKER_07 40:22.932
Yeah. I would have said the elements of pandemic were probably there in previous plan, but now are far more highlighted now that we've actually had one. Yes, absolutely. It was a token picture and now it's very much front yeah. And centre.
Amelia Lorentson 40:36.160
And you forgot the lens. A realisation. That as well. Sorry. That's fine. $80 million worth of landslips, yes. I'm going to start with a basic question just for clarity. What's the role of local government in a disaster and the Local Disaster Management Group?
Shaun Walsh 40:55.331
I'm not actually deferring to our Chair of the Local Disaster Management Group. It's our CEO, Larry Sengstock, who's still in that role and that's the appropriate person to respond to that.
Larry Sengstock 41:05.231
So we have local government management groups. The State. So whenever there's a need for that group to get together and react, then that's process we follow. So yes, I'm the Chair of that. Whilst I'm the coordinator and the Mayor is our local group, and we kind of constitute all of our service providers. In terms of when a disaster does happen, so if it's a flood, it's as we had in 23Rd February 2022. I'm losing track of what happens when it does happen. Early 2022 with a flood, it's Council or the LPMG that stands up and Council takes the lead role. If it's a fire that we had in 2019, it's the QFES, so the fire and emergency services. So it Pandemic Queensland Health. That's just changed over now to Queensland police. So it sits under the banner. So it just depends on the type of disaster. But the focus has been certainly improved and increased enormously over the last few years up here, but across Australia because of the climate change and the amount of natural disasters that we've been encountering. So it just means that the councils, local governments in particular, are far more focused and we have found specific people. In my last Council didn't. We had somebody who was a part-time of their job and now it's a full-time where we have a number of people and that resource I think is only going to grow as we go down the track because the amount of work and planning We can't just rely on volunteers. We need to have people who are fully trained and able to step up straight away. And we've increased resources. Terms of our fire management as well with the local government. So Sean Harris on our group now, he's done an amazing job of just giving us that. We've increased his resources, but he's also done lot of work on level of comfort that. We are doing stuff where we can, and as much as we can, to try to minimise the impact should there be a fire in the near future, so. Certainly, as an organisation Council, we are far more focused on how we manage disasters, how we mitigate, how we prepare for and mitigate as best we can. So it's, you know, we're never going to be perfect, but certainly we're well down the track and we've got some very good people who are very dedicated to the task that we have to do, so it's a. Comforting factor for our community, I think.
Joe Jurisevic 44:01.870
Can I tack something on to the end of that? Level of technology in this sphere, trying to keep abreast of all that, really means that we need a resource that can stay at the forefront and be aware of the changes, and some of those changes that we've been at the forefront of with that fire tech. Technology that's been developing, you know, right out of our own bridge and digital home.
Frank Wilkie 44:25.612
Just on that, can we ask about the sort of technologies that we are employing and will be using this season?
Shaun Walsh 44:33.412
Well, I think we need to be careful with the fire tech programs. Related to cameras flew around the fire that actually detects smoke so and then that's exactly what it's come. That's the first time we understand some trial illustrator, but there's a lot of them fine-tuning.org community someone providing a barbecue in the backyard, we don't want to do that, so we haven't set audio up the overall alert system as yet, but it's been monitored. And if they see an inkling of smoke, then obviously they'll mean you're an act, but it's so, you know, and our vision of digital centre has been to full-front with actually embracing that technology. The other areas that we're actually looking at is also monitoring stations and systems which are basically an update of manual monitoring stations around the Shire, so we can actually give much more accurate local information to our residents might be aware of the same issues we're experiencing too. We experienced in 2022, you know, a flood event was that, you know, the data coming from the other more regional authorities or organisations wasn't necessarily specific enough for our Shire. And we need to get much better at actually monitoring those catchment conditions for our local residents. So the other thing that we're on the finalisation of procurement. Shire-wide VHF communication system. We've never actually had Shire-wide comms system before and you might note that during local disasters mobile phones are next to useless because the towers and systems are taking up a lot of capacity with residents, know, communicating with each other so you need a parallel communication system. UHF is valuable for localised communication in our construction sites but it doesn't carry everyone. So for the first time we've had a broad digital based UHF system so we're in the process of appearing at the moment. So we still have a long way to go in terms of using new technology.
Frank Wilkie 46:44.006
Thank you Shaun. The fire detection cameras, what percentage of the Shire are covered by that? It's not the entire Shire. What percentage? The whole Shire is covered. It is? Yeah, so there are two mounts for the cameras, one's a timber one and a black mount. Yes. The two. Okay, because I got the impression that the one at Kin Kin wasn't detected. So, certainly it is detected, it is in the distance, but it is the third, obviously the most como, Kim are certainly it's part of the coverage of the camera. Okay, good. First. Yes. It's not a black spot though.
Shaun Walsh 47:27.142
No, I think ideally we would get additional coverage. Yes. You know, and there's been explorations from mumbai. Can also, if well. To give them better coverage over the mississippi shore and also the king islands. So we've got further. And this is why we talk about being commissioning base and about how we read the technology before we actually.
Frank Wilkie 47:48.309
No, it's a great ambition. Yes. Thank you.
Joe Jurisevic 47:51.037
Understanding of the Sunshine Coast Council on the news the other night was also talking about implementing the systems that will give us greater coverage to the south, I would imagine, to facilitate. I've got a question.
SPEAKER_01 48:01.237
Thank you. Can we you finish with that? Yes, thank you, Claire. You, guys, Ian and Sean and all the team. Thank you, sue. This is, of course, James. That's for yeah, you guys have done a terrific job on this. And we're the lead agency when it comes to flood. And obviously, QFES and now Queensland Police will take the lead on if there are fires, but coming into fire season, and I guess that's what's part of get ready is that, you know, we can mitigate and do the best, yeah, most we can. And I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but from, you know, where we were four years ago, we're in a far stronger position with all the resources and the extra technology that's been put into fire management and mitigation. Think the 2019 fires were a game changer for this community and realised that so much more had to go into fire management. The question is that, you know, we can only do so much, but we really need the community to come on board with this, don't we, and to really prepare their own properties. As best they can.
Shaun Walsh 49:01.888
Absolutely. It's really good statement because, you know, a lot of government is community, but we need communities to support local government at times of need like that. And the best communities are the ones who are pre-prepared and resilient and work with each other. Because, unfortunately, during natural disasters, our resources are stretched. Yeah. They can't be everywhere, and the more communities are self-prepared and ready to help each other, then the safer they're going to be and more resilient to disasters. So I can hint at this. Ian is our disaster resilience officer, which is a very different kettle of fish, which is all about preparing communities for resilience. Do you want to add to more of that, Ian?
Ian 49:38.932
Well, only in the sense what you see before you is, as was read out by Neil, incorporating the quirk, court. But as far as our engagement with community in that process, last July, we began the engagement holding a series of five workshops. And they were sort of just being aware of where they were. So we had Kin Kin school of arts hall for Kin Kin komo Federal, and then Peregian beach community house for Peregian and eastern beaches. For the beach holiday road resort over on the North Shore, so that was Tewantin North Shore residents. Cooroy, Pomona, lion's den was Cooroy, Black Mountain, and Pomona itself. Then we did like the tharabas club for the Cooroibah, catharava roaring and Boreen Point communities. And all of those, the data from, or the information that came back from those meetings were incorporated into the report which you saw in front of you. So the engagement has been, I suppose since then, almost ongoing. And then probably more importantly in the engagement part of things, we have a resilient plan, a resilience plan that I've worked from in my contracted time. It focuses on three main areas, and I think you've all been graciously attended many of those, and that is obviously schools, which we're in the throes of right now, with get ready month, and then right through to summer until literally almost the last day of school. So that's all state schools, private nearly every school, and nursery will be receiving us in the next month and a half. So that's schools, aged care, which has been a really exciting time for us. We've had workshops and forums, but we've also had individual, as you've probably seen through councillor's Facebook, we do individual visits to about 100 residents at a time, and we're doing that right through Shire with our QFES ambulance and SES partners. And then the third component is through small business. We had a small business forum in March, and then we will hold that annually. And in between, we still pop in the town hall meetings and the various chambers and things like that. So that, a sense, becomes the bulk of what's in front as far as engagement with our community. And we've pretty much got a cycle now in our structure that plans for that ongoing.
SPEAKER_01 51:49.198
And it is what you just said about the schools. It's so powerful because often the kids are the ones who go home and go, "Hey, we've done this. Don't forget about this." And so it's so great to engage exactly as you said in, and I was going to mention, you know, having the support of emergency services there has been so valuable, you know, because, you know, seeing them there and kids interact with them and able to ask them questions, I think it's been really powerful to do all of that. And I've been to some of the aged care workshops. They've been excellent too. I mean, I think that being you've covered I don't think there's been any area that's been left out. You know, no stones have been left unturned. You haven't covered it all.
Shaun Walsh 52:24.574
I think also that we've probably got more work to do in terms of local residents, in particular new arrivals who have been the wild. I live in the vita lanes during the 2022 event. We have advanced contact details. We don't need to look at each other's pockets, but we have two infirm people who rely on prescription medication. There's no support there. So we went door knocking, not sure they were okay. We've got their scripts arranged. You know, driving, I'm on very wet public roads more we can do, and so we didn't have to call upon emergency services or ambulance or SES, we can stress times. So I think the next stage of things we do is how do we make that full process in our communities to make it as easy as possible. That's creating neighbourhoods again. Back neighbourhoods knowing neighbours. I mean, similar situation during the fires. I mean, last man out, I was knocking on everybody's doors when the Tewantin evacuation was here, making sure everybody was aware and was evacuating. Lights were on, particular. It's a joint effort. Think the notion that Council can do everything for people in emergency services, it's a false belief. We need to all work. Absolutely.
Amelia Lorentson 53:26.885
And I think the fires also are really still fresh in everyone's mind. So, Yeah. Ian. Commend what you're doing in the space of engagement. Because, you know, with that close to the smoking fires, that just doesn't disappear overnight. It's still fresh. I want to ask a question. Before I came to the meeting, there's some plastic lids that are floating out on the eastern beaches. In terms of environmental spillage, is that what the LDMG, have you guys got a plan or a process? How do we address environmental, and in light of the public styrene spillage that we saw just a
Shaun Walsh 54:11.412
Year ago. So, embraced in the local disaster management plans was an environmental restoration coordinator, so we actually respond to these incidents. Thing we learned about the polystyrene disaster, you know, on the beaches was the lack of resources that were available for the dam and debris cleanup. So, actually, one of the lessons learned from that disaster was actually, you know, marine cleanup kits that can be deployed, to these can be used just among unfortunate areas. That's work in progress. We actually had meeting about it with Melissa coyle and Ben Derrick about it last week to discuss next steps about actually properly deploying. We've got an outstanding action in our continuous improvement plan. Unfortunately, priorities have been elsewhere, and we're still going through our list. And we've already got trailer at the depot for oil spill response, but we need to ramp that up for other debris. So I would have liked to have said that we're better prepared for marine debris at the moment. We've still got some more work to do. That's just because of time and resources. And going through the priorities.
Joe Jurisevic 55:15.144
And heightened awareness. Having had it happen we're now aware of the sort of things that can occur.
Shaun Walsh 55:19.724
It's still, we're actually still working through the lessons learned from the 2022 disaster. And we're actually planning on doing a report to the LDMG and also to Council about our status on what the connections are and where the outstanding things are going to be fixed and that's one we're in progress, but we haven't had as much progress as we would like to see.
Joe Jurisevic 55:42.255
I'm having happy to move. And I'll happily second it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 55:45.875
Thank you. Claire, Clare. Would you like to speak? Just want reiterate our thanks. You know, I feel that we are really well prepared here, and that's so much to do with all the work that you've all done. So there's no one I've sat with in a disaster, and who knows, you disasters better than you, and your expertise and skills were fundamental during the floods. And so, you know, I think we've got if a disaster does strike, we've got a really strong plan, team, and I think the community should take comfort in that. But it doesn't mean that we can't-- we need all or get on board, get ready, and as you said, it is a really good opportunity to prepare our community, to keep having those talks, resilience I think a resilient community is a prepared community, and we can't control modern nature, but we can certainly prepare the best we can. And I think we're doing a really great job in that. Think, you know, we're the team outside, and I said to dale from Queensland police, I said, "We're so lucky. We're the best in business. We really do." So I think that, you know, when we sit in that disaster room, I know that we've got the skilled expertise and knowledge, and I think that's something the community can take comfort in. So thank you very much for all your hard work. It's valued and we appreciate it. Thank you.
Joe Jurisevic 57:04.410
Yeah. What a change over my time in that room. Ten years ago when I sat in for the first two years as an observer and then the last two terms a Deputy Chair of the LDMG, I've seen a major, a large number of changes, and are the better. And this plan resembles a lot of the change that has occurred and learnings that we've gained not only as a Council but through the DDMD and through the challenges that we've had thrust at us. We've gone through fire, flood, pandemic, environmental spills, we've had a lot, I'm exhausted just thinking about it, with the hours of sleep that we've lost over the last five years in particular, but fortunately the State government has been a large part of the support of this as well. We didn't have a recovery plan for this state until a few years ago. I remember going to that first meeting with the State about recovery plans and the word resilience was barely mentioned. We've now got a resilience officer and what a transition, what a change that's made to the way that we understand and we deal with disasters in this state and in this Council as a result. Has a whole new meaning that we just don't replace like with that we actually look at what the impacts of replacing something that's been impacted and see if we can't construct something that has the ability to outlast the last disaster and the next disaster. Hopefully we don't, have to replace it time and again, that we actually learn lessons from each of these, events and that we grow strategies and procedures that try and keep us at the forefront of it. But at the end of the day, you know, this is, a great plan. But as you said, as you guys have said, I mean, we rely on the individuals to make sure that they implement their own plans at home and how important that is because, yeah, we can't be everywhere. The services are stretched at that time, and everybody's got to understand they have a role to play, and even in your own household, you have a significant role. To play of understanding of where it is in relation to you. When is it time to pack up? Get your family together and get out? Because that's a decision that ultimately we all have to make at some stage. Remember the fires. That decision. Get out. They were told to evacuate. Every time we have a flood, there are a number of people that know what the rising waters mean and trigger points are. And newcomers to the place have to find that out. They have to become aware of those challenges that confront us. Being able to response, when we've learned from the lessons of the polystyrene on the beach or an oil spill. I can remember years ago, Mayor Bob Abbot having to react to an oil spill on the beach. He couldn't wait for the State to turn around and give him approvals. Got the vehicles on the beach and started damming up and trying to prevent the oil spill from spreading. It's that capacity, that knowledge and that sort of local understanding of conditions that we need to have to know what put in place. When those sort of things strike. I said full credit to James, I said I want to acknowledge James Elliott for the work that he's done in putting this together and some of the technological advances that he helped has us to embark on through his time as our disaster management officer. I think he did a tremendous job and I'm sure Neil that you'll equally feel that role going forward but opportunity the opportunities of that technology present to us are ones that we must embrace where we can because they will help our community and operations to go forward and but even going you know even making sure that we've got good communications across the region, black spots, those little things are so important to ensuring that when not if but when because we know this is going to happen it's not a matter of if it's when that we're as prepared as we possibly can be and that each time something like this happens we learn from those learn the lessons of what we can still deliver better for the community going forward for the future. Thank you.
Amelia Lorentson 01:01:21.799
Frank you haven't spoken Councillor.
Frank Wilkie 01:01:23.879
Yeah thank you because as one of the Peregian residents who was evacuated twice in six weeks in 2019 due to fire and on one of those occasions a red glow in the distance within 20 minutes became an ember storm over the house prompting quick evacuation I'm really looking forward to this I'm really interested in how this fire tech is going to be working and helping us detect and mobilise really quickly before it gets to that point. But I have a question. One of the things we're being asked to approve here in this recommendation is devolving responsibility for updating and approving the operational sub plans of a local disaster management 2023 to the Noosa local disaster group. Could you tell us how often are sub plans updated and who does them? Sub plans have already been updated. Because I don't recall any of them coming before Council.
Shaun Walsh 01:02:20.230
This approach is consistent with other local governments that have sub plans for the major it basically allows the local groups to update themselves without having actually come to full Council or the LDMG. So it becomes a much more flexible and easy to manage sub for instance, we've been involved with SEQ orderings recently, updating mediation sub plans associated with, you know, possibly, you know, if there's catastrophic damage, which is normal things or something that could happen. So we don't have to bring that through to the Council, so it allows it to be much more nimble and flexible. I appreciate it.
Frank Wilkie 01:03:00.954
Is it just ratifying something that's happening already? So we've been asked to approve the devolution of responsibility for updating these plans. I don't recall any of them coming before Council anyway. So it's just ratifying a process that's underway already.
Shaun Walsh 01:03:20.257
I think that's correct and I think we're just trying to make it clear that there are some plans to support this master plan.
Joe Jurisevic 01:03:34.373
Yeah, in essence it would get encapsulated in the approval of the disaster management plan because all those sub plans are part of this going forward, yes.
Amelia Lorentson 01:03:44.453
Thank you. I want to acknowledge the firefighters. Today's the Firefighters' Remembrance Day and I just think it falls on a really good day as we're endorsing our Local Disaster Management Plan. So and pay tribute to those who've lost their lives in the line of duty. A shout out to all our other SES workers, lifeguards, our police and the volunteers, our volunteering rural fighters. You know I sit back and go when disaster hits where would you think Noosa is a pretty great place to be. And I'm going to finish on a quote which gets thrown a lot over the last four years in the space of local disaster: "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best" I'm hoping Thanks.
Joe Jurisevic 01:04:47.980
Just one question before the Mayor closes.
Amelia Lorentson 01:04:50.564
Oh and Tom, excuse me, Tom. I'll go to Joe first.
Joe Jurisevic 01:04:56.844
That's alright. If the community are looking for where they can get their information with regard disaster management from Council, where do they go to?
Ian 01:05:08.420
The one, thank you for asking. It's my Dorothy Dixer for you. Two reasons. You'll see before you, perhaps, so every. Engagement that we have, the right number of packs come with me. So you can see here at disaster.minister.future.gov.au or you can just go straight to council's website and almost immediately you'll see the disaster dashboard. So ultimately every LDA in Queensland has I'm going as the system that we use but our disaster dashboard is that kind of true for all residents.
Joe Jurisevic 01:05:42.103
You don't only have to wait for a disaster to find use in that disaster dashboard. What sort of things will you find on the disaster dashboard that people will find useful?
Ian 01:05:51.324
We can also move and change and certainly on the Noosa leadership we'll be able to incorporate some of this, but it could be meteorology updates, weather Road closures. So smoke hazards, fire areas, whatever it is. But we also work with our partners to have some of their promotion in there as well, and on the disaster dashboard it takes you back to council's website as well. So the idea there, we basically have a thing, stay informed, and there are two things that happen First of all, the information that every resident would need in relation to any question. The which sits right beside it. And on that Noosa Alert is the ability for them to put in, there's no privacy issues in the sense that it's just an email address and phone number or a mobile number for information from the disaster dashboard when LDMG is leaning forward, standing up. We were then able to send all that information through firetex or service.
Joe Jurisevic 01:06:45.966
So probably a good thing for people to familiarise themselves with outside of a disaster so that when the time comes they know what sort of information they can see.
SPEAKER_07_b 01:06:53.606
And the last but not least, these packs that you have in front of you represent the packs that will be Saturday at the get ready event for Noosa. We're really proud of this, it's not something we get to speak about that often but the great thing about it is that there are 17 get ready weeks around Queensland, events happening around the State but there are only six that are basically being attended or promoted by get ready Queensland and we're one of those six. So Saturday you're all invited, you all received my earlier email and then Susan went out at lunchtime. This Saturday from 7:00 until 12:00 directly behind and in keeping with the weekly promoted markets there's going to be 13 disaster management partners all there having a chat with everybody about everything that they may have questions about.
Joe Jurisevic 01:07:41.754
So if people aren't sure of what they need to put into their own household disaster emergency thought processes, this is the place to come.
Amelia Lorentson 01:07:49.254
This is how you make a plan.
SPEAKER_07_b 01:07:52.657
So so the idea here is in case I brought the aged care kit with me for you, so obviously what they, this is through my engagement with them and then getting sort of best practice through all the disaster through to the State. It's just a clear clipboard and then on it you'll probably see some two, three different things. That Councillor Finzel just showed up which is the dangerous weather emergency plan and then, I don't know if you don't mind really holding it up, just that little flyer there, yeah that
Amelia Lorentson 01:08:23.810
That's magnetised. Give these to my neighbours. This is so exciting.
SPEAKER_07_b 01:08:27.733
So they're magnetised and if you spin them around there's little magnet on them. That's what I thought. So on the back that just goes on your fridge so that's every now and then a USB and a language, and that allows the USB is empty so that's Wills, passports, insurance certificates, the sort
Joe Jurisevic 01:08:47.313
Of things you probably don't think of at the last minute that you need to have at hand in the event that something tragic happens.
SPEAKER_07_b 01:08:55.233
So everyone who visits us on Saturday and everyone in between will receive one of these packs. Fantastic. Excellent.
SPEAKER_01 01:09:00.313
Very good. Well done. Anthony. Such great work. Thank you.
Joe Jurisevic 01:09:06.084
I think tom's
Tom Wegener 01:09:06.824
I just wanted to say thank you so much. I think this is a really important feature because it just gets me thinking straight away as you open it up. You're a cat opener. In there you need to have them your staff. This is really a great tool.
SPEAKER_07_b 01:09:25.096
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 01:09:28.176
Fantastic.
Amelia Lorentson 01:09:35.728
Fantastic. Thank you. Okay, so everyone has spoken. Claire, would you like to close? Good, stand back and please come on. You'll see many different Council people there as well, so feel free to participate. Perfect. Thanks, Anne. Sean, Neil. And again, extend our thank you to all the staff. Excellent work. Great, thanks. All those in favour? Thank you, Carrie, unanimously. Thank you. Thanks, Sean. Ian. Thank you. See you. Bye-bye. See you. Thanks, everyone. So now we're going next. To report number 5.3, Noosa Shire Council and specialised beliefs. And I welcome to the table. Before I move on, I'm going to clear conflict of interest. If could have that in front of me, Cathy. It's on the data page. I, inform the meeting that I have a declarable conflict of interest in this matter as my husband, Chris Lorentson, is an employee of Page Furnishers who are proposed to be included on the Specialised Supplier List. As a result of my conflict of interest I will now leave the meeting room while the matter is considered and voted on.
Frank Wilkie 01:11:27.580
I would like to move Stewart be appointed Chairperson.
Unknown 01:11:34.940
You you're were on that side of the table, I was going to ask you.
Joe Jurisevic 01:11:48.880
Would like to ask for us all in favour?
Frank Wilkie 01:11:52.860
Carried unanimously. Thank you, thank you.
Clare Stewart 01:11:55.480
We have a great team here to give us a rundown. Absolutely. So summary to this report. The procurement of council's goods and services must be carried out in accordance with the Local Government Act 2009 and the default contracting procedures outlined in regulation 2012. Government Reg allows for exceptions to and that includes the approval of supplier being deemed either as a sole or a specialised supplier. Is that it's satisfied that there is only one supplier who is reasonably available and specialised supplier because of the specialised or confidential nature of the services that are sought it would be impractical. Or disadvantageous for local governments to invite quotes or tenders.
Joe Jurisevic 01:12:54.395
So examples of something like that would be where we're using a particular type of software and intellectual property is that or legal services that is that an example of that? Correct. Right, thank you, any questions? Yep, got another one. Joe. In light of what we've just been talking about with the Waste Strategy, these guys are on our books. So when it comes to procurement of services and procurement of products in particular, how do we, is there an opportunity within this sole supply list to incorporate the elements of circular economy and the type of elements that we procure with these suppliers when we've got them on our books?
Larry Sengstock 01:13:39.479
Yeah, I think in terms of sole supplier lists at the moment, we're currently working on a sustainable procurement policy and we will come to Council to workshop that in December this year. The intent of that policy is to cover any type of procurement, arrangement, not just. No, I realise that, but I was just wondering. So there would be an opportunity under that. Once we implement that for any of our arrangements, whether they're sold specialised or other arrangements that Council has, to be able to meet some of those objectives for sure.
Joe Jurisevic 01:14:15.310
That's right, it's just that given that these. Aren't actually supplier that is going through that renewal phase on a regular basis, or do we do that? Every time we update this list, do we go through and refine that list and look at who is on that list? Because I do notice there are some dropping off and some coming on.
SPEAKER_01 01:14:32.374
That's correct. It is an annual process that we do, and it does come in alignment with the types of projects that we ramp up and ramp down with. So, yeah, it's part of that rates.
Joe Jurisevic 01:14:47.518
So the elements of procurement can be revised on an annual basis when this list is upgraded. Thank you.
Frank Wilkie 01:14:54.478
I just have a question. Thank you, Mayor. Reason might be removed from the list, like adanis, for example, why would they, is it an alternative procurement and contract solution completed? That means you've found something else to do the work?
SPEAKER_01 01:15:10.302
In that case, there's was a different supplier that had been, that had come on board in the market and that we could do a competitive process and through that competitive process it was found to be a more advantageous
Frank Wilkie 01:15:30.842
Okay, and there specialist supplier list, The University of Queensland, services no longer required by Council?
SPEAKER_01 01:15:39.022
So the services in particular that they speak to are those that are written in the reason for inclusion. So those ones in particular were specific to specialised knowledge, experience and planning appeals for the understanding of the Noosa Plan. These specialised services are time sensitive due to court time frames. So they were deemed that they were no longer required for that particular service.
Frank Wilkie 01:16:11.611
Does that mean if you need the expertise of a university you wouldn't be using UQ anymore?
SPEAKER_01 01:16:17.465
We would potentially go through another procurement process in order to engage them for other services. Do we have questions? I'm having to move okay. Thank you, guys. It's a very long list. We appreciate all your hard work because it is time consuming and there's a lot of due diligence required, so no, we appreciate it. So, thank you.
Joe Jurisevic 01:16:49.949
At the end of the day, the concept of this is to save time and effort on services. The community and the needs of Council at times so that we don't have to go through the full open process thank you. All in favour?
Clare Stewart 01:17:09.485
Carried unanimously. Thank you guys. Thank you so much. Thanks Barry. You everyone. Thank you.
Amelia Lorentson 01:17:37.860
Welcome back to the table, Councillor Lorentson. Okay. Do you often have those conversations? I don't have an answer to that question- Okay, we're up to report number five.4. Council meeting scheduled January to March 2024 and Acting CEO Larry Sengstock. I ask if you can start by giving us a summary or overview of the report in front
Larry Sengstock 01:18:12.670
So this is a schedule of Council meetings that we're obliged to do on an annual basis. So this is for the next year, 2024, given that we have I'm going to take a call on the 16th of March, so we're really just in January, February and March, is really what this shows, is the series of meetings that we have, our two committee meetings, and then our General Committee, and then- that will be a few years that's on
Joe Jurisevic 01:18:45.547
The 14th. Forward yeah.
Amelia Lorentson 01:18:46.367
Yeah, the last one. So just for clarity, so we're in take mode from January 1, and- not that
Larry Sengstock 01:18:54.307
Soon, no, it's still, six weeks. Last year's called, we expect it to be called on the 29th of January at this point in time, but we- don't know until we know.
Joe Jurisevic 01:19:04.524
Okay. Typically about six weeks before. Six weeks.
SPEAKER_01 01:19:08.184
That's, yeah, we're expecting it to be there, but okay.
Amelia Lorentson 01:19:12.284
And in terms of the meetings between January and until March, only, no major
Larry Sengstock 01:19:21.105
Policy decisions will remain during that period. In January through March, we still hold these meetings, but we're only able to make, basically, business decisions. Operational No financial decisions. The budget.
SPEAKER_01 01:19:39.285
I'm happy to move the report in front of us. Can I ask a question? Larry, in regard to March, there's an ordinary Council meeting literally on the Thursday night before the election. A standard practice that there have always been meetings, general and ordinary, that close to the election.
Larry Sengstock 01:19:56.443
Yeah, that's a good question. My understanding is yes you can, have it, because Thursday night is our system, every Council is different, in terms of which nights and days they use Thursday, it's in our schedule, if we don't have anything we want to bring to the table as officers, then we don't need to look at the Council, but at least there is a. No, it's not necessary. Specific, but, you know, we'll likely, be bringing regular VAUs, so we still have to do the ASA reports.
Joe Jurisevic 01:20:31.180
Standing Orders required. It might be very short.
SPEAKER_01 01:20:34.600
Yeah, exactly. And what about within the caretaker period, will there be workshops on, like, because I can't imagine there'll be, there's workshops for lay of foundations for then reports and things like that. So I imagine that will be less too.
Larry Sengstock 01:20:46.869
Yeah have things that are specific to what we want to get through and what we, again, as long as they're not foundation for any major change, so we'll be playing that a bit longer. Thank you.
Amelia Lorentson 01:21:04.469
I'll move the report in front of us. Nothing more to say. All those in favour? Thank you. Supported unanimously. Thank you Madam Chair. We're up to item 7. There's no confidential sessions. I now declare the meeting closed and the time is 2:55pm. Thank you and see you next.
Related Noosa Council Meetings
← Browse all Noosa Shire Council meeting transcripts