Planning & Environment Committee Report - 7 May 2024

Frank Wilkie0:00

I'd like to acknowledge that we're meeting on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi people and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. That note that all councils are in attendance. Item 2 is the confirmation of the Minutes. May I have a mover and a seconder for the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on the 18th of April. Happy to move, thank you. Moved by Councillor Lorentson and seconded by Councillor Stockwell. Thank you. All in favour? That's carried unanimously. I have a Mayoral minute. Give notice of my intention to move the following motion of the Ordinary Meeting on Thursday 16 May. It's to do with the housing availability and affordability planning and other legislation amendment act and consequential amendments. The motion reads that Council note the State government has responded to the current housing challenge through the recently passed bill. However, the consequential amendments being proposed to the supporting regulations, ministerial guidelines and development assessment rules have potential to circumvent and undermine council's good planning through its planning scheme. It could result in unacceptable development outcomes for the Noosa community. The bill's supporting material is currently on public consultation and it is recommended that Council make a formal submission raising particular on new state-facilitated development process, specifically that the State-facilitated development process bypasses local government's role to assess and decide development applications against planning schemes for these declared proposals. It provides only a minimal 15% affordable housing requirement with the breadth of eligible development being very broadly defined. The process does not clearly outline how affordable housing approved under this process will be maintained in perpetuity. It provides limited to opportunity the public to make submissions on development proposals public. Which it may result in inconsistent development outcomes in inappropriate locations where amenity may be compromised, building height and scale development limits may be exceeded and may severely impact areas which have previously received. Protection under environmental outlays. I can just speak further on this. The proposed amendments will provide a new development assessment process where a development application will be assessed by the State government rather than the local government. To bypass Noosa Council development proposal must include an affordable housing component equal to at least 15% of all promise. Because the applications do not need to comply with the Noosa planning scheme there is potentially no limit to the height or size of the developments that could on any lot deemed to have suitable infrastructure to support them. This could mean multi-storey units of unspecified height and low density residential neighbourhoods. There are also reduced time frames for approvals and limited feedback opportunity for residents who may be affected. It's important to acknowledge Noosa Council has a strong and proud history of upholding Noosa planning schemes, which have been enshrined and reinforced through numerous upheld Planning & Environment Court decisions. This persistent and dedicated local government planning has made Noosa of the community and destination it is today that our residents and visitors love. This Council is also very aware and supportive of achieving greater housing outcomes for our as addressed in council's comprehensive Housing Strategy endorsed over two years ago. This strategy has a range of actions already underway to achieve these outcomes in a manner that aligns with community expectations. As highlighted above there are significant concerns that the State facilitated development process may threaten or undermine this approach and Noosa Council will be strongly seeking the State government to reconsider their approach to this process to address concerns raised above and importantly ensure the local planning instruments such as the Noosa Plan 2020 will be adhered to. Does anyone else wish to speak to the motion?

Brian Stockwell91:23

Yeah, we'll close. I think Councillor Phillips raised a really good point in what we should always ask. Are we consulting enough or are we consulting in a way that we and are we responding in a way? And I think the best way to answer that is to look at today. And one of the consultations I didn't list or include the numbers in last term was the Housing Strategy and when we started that process I had to guess that most people thought that housing was a state government through issue the process we engaged a very knowledgeable reference group from industry from community from welfare organisations as well as staff we engaged and developed a set of priorities to improve the delivery of affordable social community housing in this Shire. A few minutes ago we just agreed to sell a block of land at Cooroy to a community housing co-op to develop excuse point of order. The previous motion in General Committee that was confidential but the report that says what we're doing the recommendation is not confidential okay keep going yeah we also just after that or before that just agreed to go out to community on a suite of planning scheme amendments which were foreshadowed in that Housing Strategy because the community had really clear because the community had really clear desire and expectations to address what desire and expectations to address what was a critical issue and that issue was a critical issue and that issue was not just expressed when we went out not just expressed when we went out specifically on the Housing Strategy when we went out to on the Corporate Plan and we had a thousand submissions the number one priority that they nominated was the environment which is pretty typical but when we did the qualitative analysis the number two most commonly identified issue raised in those submissions was housing and we've talked about the liveability survey and whether we've responded to that and if you look at the feedback we got from the community on the liveability survey and on the from memory of the Corporate Plan when asked what is the thing we need to the answer was the same it's about our footpaths their pathways their trails and while we can't say what we did we know today we had gone for a big grant from the Federal government for just that infrastructure and received it so there is no doubt in my mind that this Council has been responsive to the input we've received from community consultation there is no doubt that the priorities for investment and action do reflect our community thank you

Thank you, Frank. Congratulations first on your successful election and re-election. On behalf of the community, I wish you all the best as you work to serve the Noosa community and make positive changes for the future. All worked exceptionally hard to impress us enough to put that number one next to your name. There is a community assumption now that you will be responsible and respectful to those of us who have elected you. As you know, local councils are very relevant, so it is vital that Councillors take their work very seriously and their roles with the community and towards each other. I know councils enter local councils with the best intent. Well, at least the majority do. There are 77 councils in Queensland who are elected to offer their time, energy, dedication, passion and belief in local Council to their local communities. Being a publicly elected person brings a host of complexity to a councillor's life. Whilst there are many benefits, it is often a thankless job and you cannot make everyone happy. As a Councillor there will always be someone who doesn't agree with you. Someone who will be willing to tell you that you're wrong and sometimes people who will express their displeasure with you. This is part and parcel of public life if you're a Councillor you signed up for it. So in the past we have seen a rise in frustrated members of the public feeling unheard, stifled, ignored or dismissed when they have engaged with Council and Councillors. Usually it is a the bureaucracy of Council that the public struggles with angst comes from being managed and not heard we've seen much of the community consultations as a tick box exercise that proved Council never intended to listen in the first place I'd like to speak on community engagement primarily because it has been emphasised by all of you as being a necessary element of being a member of the Council and this Council every one of the elected Councillors identified community consultation and engagement as being an essential component of a councillor's position by definition community engagement is a process it involves people working together to address issues and make positive changes in their shared environment it involves building relationships fostering dialogue and collaborating to create sustainable solutions that benefit the community as a whole I'm probably preaching to the converted here because I'm sure we are all on the same page or at least I hope so the question in the community is will our new Council find the desire to implement what they promised in their campaign policies have on record your promises and policies. Now is the time to put desire into action and make change from what has been the status quo pushing through past comfort patterns toward increased open public exchange and accountability in relation to community engagement this is what residents will be watching for is it time to review council's current community engagement policy while there are numerous ways to enter into community engagement including volunteerism advocacy public participation and decision making and community organising Noosa Council advertise the four main ways of engaging and these apply particularly to Council meetings. Petitioning number one. Council so this relates to ten or more people who primarily lobby the Council regarding a particular issue. We've had a few of these over the years and they've created some change in policy albeit they do take a big commitment by many people in the community to organise and coordinate so it's not an easy process. Number two: deputations. I've presented a few of these and in relation to timeframe follow-up and acknowledgement by Council I find fault. Once again, not an easy process considering the amount of research that goes into a deputation and the often lack of follow-through by Council. Presentation is basically and acceptance over of a gift or an award by Council. This could not really be considered an engagement process. Number four, public question time. A way to raise genuine questions about a matter within the jurisdiction of Council. Residents are limited to two questions which are responded to by Council staff with no immediate opportunity for any type of dialogue. This format of engagement provides an opportunity to connect with Council staff after Council meetings which has been my experience although sometimes with unsatisfactory outcomes. None of these engagement processes allows community members to speak directly to elected Council members with the opportunity for ongoing communication and issue discussion. Standing Orders for Council meetings 19th November 2020 version which I have observed over the past years it's not always been adhered to and wondering if the time has come for a review of this document. While considering review perhaps the 2018 Noosa Council social justice charter could be included. This document was originally developed in collaboration with members of the community round it would be useful to know if this community round table group still exists. Amongst other things this Charters purpose is to guide councils direction in forming partnerships with community. Would be credit to the community connect e-newsletter and Your Say Noosa for providing electronic online access to Council for community members to comment and have a say the nurses noosa's 2015 social service social strategy is another guiding document although an ageing strategy but still maintains relevancy by outlining council's role which is to work in partnership with residents and local organisations in the best interests of the community and explains how the community can assist Council by keeping Council informed about the needs and aspirations of residents. I'm sure the new Councillors researched these documents particularly prior to and leading into the elections which may have contributed to community engagement being a recurring theme discussed by all candidates during this period. This takes me to the council's overriding community engagement document community engagement policy August 2014 updated version 2023. I won't recite the whole or the entire document here but I would like to focus on what Council has identified as benefits of effective engagement. Council and the community working together to address local issues and collectively achieving better outcomes. A higher level of community input into decisions made by Council. An improved level of community understanding about councils, processes and services. Increased awareness across Council of community views and concerns. Opportunities for Council to draw upon community expertise. The potential for time and cost savings due to better alignment between community needs and Council decisions. Increased social capital due to a greater trust and knowledge acquired while working collaboratively with the community. And lastly, stronger relationships between Councillors, Council officers. Residents, including stakeholder groups. You can see Council has many documents that support community engagement and there's more. However, this area got little mention in the 2022-23 annual report. In fact, it was very light relation to community engagement. In the report, there is a commitment by Council to keep the community informed of its projects, plans, initiatives and activities across the Shire. That's not exactly engagement. Council also recognises community engagement as a vital part of effective democracy and good governance. The community engagement policy Council adopted in March 2023 outlines the principles of engagement inclusive, transparent, appropriate, accountable, timely, well-resourced, informative and understanding our changing community. The Your Say portal seems to have greatest success in identifying 22,000 visitors to that site but resulting in only 1,800 people participating and providing input into 86 Council projects. The Local Government Act 2009, current as at 1st of February 2024, outlines in chapter 2 local government principles that underpin this act. The local government principles are transparent and effective processes and decision making in the public interest and sustainable development and management of assets and infrastructure and delivery of effective services. Democratic representation, social inclusion and meaningful. Community engagement and good governance of and by local government and ethical and legal behaviour of Councillors, local government, employees and Councillor advisers. You'll recall I was involved in organising a couple of pre-election community meetings which some of you attended. These were well attended and feedback was that they were equally successful in terms of engagement and community issue identification. You'll agree I'm sure that community meetings to discuss local issues can be a valuable way to engage residents ensure their concerns are heard and addressed. There is a substantial amount of work involved in facilitating such a meeting including consideration of planning, preparation, ensuring accountability, measurable outcomes. Cultural awareness and protocols but it's well worth the effort because to acknowledge, address and Resolve community issues to create a more inclusive, responsive and sustainable community where residents concerns are heard and acted upon is something we would all agree is what we want to achieve. Council's policies obviously support this goal. Along with many issues and concerns community members expressed leading up to the election and during the campaigning and polling days, it was identified our community has a clear goal to be acknowledged and have their sense of ownership. And well-being respected. It is therefore up to all of us to facilitate this to happen being an open and transparent Council I ask you, should we have community it's obvious Council meetings do not provide the opportunity to community to ask questions or comment generally and residents in general are reluctant for whatever reason, to pursue Councillors with specific issues regular community forums may provide a conduit for ratepayers to raise concerns. Let me reassure you have a willing hopeful and engaging community out there with expectations that you can deliver what they need how do you find out what it is they need? Thank you for taking the time to listen to me and I have every faith in you and trust that the next four years will be productive and enjoyable for you all.

Frank Wilkie58:29

Thank you Debra, thank you Richard. That brings us to item 8, consideration of committee reports. That is items 5 these is are recommendations. Application for a minor change to a development approval for a food and drink outlet, Shops & Offices at 214 David Low Way, Peregian Beach. 5.2, other change to an existing approval for a Material Change of Use, expansion of special purpose waste disposal. Recycling facility and ongoing clearing purposes at 561 Eumundi Road. Doonan, application for a minor change to a development approval. For a Material Change of Use of premises, undefined use of motorcycles, scooter sales and repair of 16 Rene St, Noosaville. Item 5.4 ripple which is another MCU. Representations to development approval, Material Change of Use, hardware and trade supplies at 178 Eumundi, Noosa Road, Noosaville and for those in the gallery, these were reports that went to the and environment committee and their recommendations were accepted so they've come to appear. Can I have a mover and a seconder for the recommendations to be adopted? I'll that's you a move from Councillor Wegener, seconded by Councillor Lorentson. Anyone to speak to the order of favour, carry carried unanimously. Item 8.2 is the Services & Organisation Committee report. There was one item referred from there, which is the capital program 2023-24 delivery status. Can I have a mover and a seconder for the recommendations to be adopted, please? Moved by Councillor Finzel, seconded by Councillor Jess Phillips. All in favour? That's carried unanimously. You've got to be quick off the mark. General Committee report, General Committee recommendations, 6.1 operational plan, 2023-24, 24, quarter, third quarter, reporting. 6.2 Financial Performance Report for the month of April. 6.3 planning applications decided by delegated authority, January, February, March and April 2024. Do we have any COIs for this, please? Thank you. Councillor Finzel.