Services & Organisation Committee Agenda, 6 May 2025
Date: Tuesday, 6 May 2025 at 1:30PM
Location: Noosa Shire Council Chambers , 9 Pelican Street , Tewantin , QLD 4565 , Australia
Organiser: Noosa Shire Council
Duration: 01:59:48
Synopsis: Compliance Policy elevated: tiered model, term removed, advocacy limits, Capital Works strong, resources sought, Noosa River .5m, scoping underway, Black Mountain reopening, Seawall co-funded.
Meeting Attendees
Committee Members
Karen Finzel Frank Wilkie Jessica Phillips Nicola Wilson Non-Committee Members
Tom Wegener Amelia Lorentson Executive Officers
Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock Director Development & Regulation Richard MacGillivray Acting Director Corporate Services Margaret Gatt Director Infrastructure Services Shaun Walsh Meeting Insight
Key Decisions & Discussions Karen Finzel: Item 7.1 Integrated Compliance & Enforcement Policy was elevated to General Committee due to significance (00:01; Minutes 7.1). Richard MacGillivray: Outlined an integrated, tiered compliance model across ~60 statutes, emphasizing consistency, transparency, natural justice, and proportionality in enforcement from education to prosecution (01:56–12:20; Minutes 7.1). Jessica Phillips: Sought removal of the definition “unlawful activity” to avoid public confusion; staff agreed it is not used in the policy text and could be deleted (04:58–06:39; Minutes 7.1). Frank Wilkie: Clarified councillors may guide residents to formal appeal avenues but must not advocate for outcomes in active compliance matters to protect process integrity (17:31–18:22; Minutes 7.1). Tom Wegener: Requested clarity on “advocacy”; staff distinguished process-related advocacy from outcome-seeking which is improper in compliance cases (24:29–26:56; Minutes 7.1). Jessica Phillips: Asked that “relevant factors” for escalating enforcement be exemplified; staff detailed risk, breach severity, history, responsiveness, public interest, and evidentiary prospects (28:14–33:49; Minutes 7.1). Committee: Adopted amendments to the Specialised Supplier List, noting name correction to Lucid Software Inc., valid to 16 Oct 2025 (44:06–48:28; Minutes 7.2). Shaun Walsh: Capital Works Program: $46m approved (incl. $22.4m carryovers); $20m spent (43.5%) plus $7.5m committed; 137 projects; $11.7m forecast grants; delivery tracking “strong” despite staffing, weather, budget constraints (49:29–51:22; Minutes 8.1). Shaun Walsh: 25/26 planning underway with 80 new initiatives; resource model lags program scale, prompting requests for additional “doer” roles and innovative delivery models (01:03:22–01:08:48; Minutes 8.1). Shaun Walsh: One-lane access at Black Mountain landslide to open under traffic management; full reopening pending remaining works (01:35:39–01:37:53; Minutes 8.1). Shaun Walsh: Noosa River recreational boating facilities progressing: scoping Noosa Woods jetty, Noosaville boat ramp approaches, and Hilton Esplanade design; $2.5m MSQ allocation confirmed in-principle, scope pending (01:38:46–01:44:05; Minutes 8.2). Committee: Referred Item 8.2 to General Committee due to significance (01:58:19; Minutes 8.2). Contentious / Transparency Matters Jessica Phillips: Questioned public-facing clarity of policy terms; staff supported removing “unlawful activity” from definitions to avoid misinterpretation (04:58–06:39; Minutes 7.1). Karen Finzel: Queried why no external community consultation on the compliance policy; staff cited it sets internal governance approach and can be iteratively improved via feedback (20:33–23:01; Minutes 7.1). Tom Wegener: Expressed concern that “no advocating” could impede representing constituents; staff committed to clarifying permissible process-advocacy versus outcome-advocacy at General Committee (23:07–26:56; Minutes 7.1). Jessica Phillips: Pressed for early community input on allocating the MSQ $2.5m; CEO agreed consultation will occur after funding scope is confirmed (01:46:14–01:48:02; Minutes 8.2). Nicola Wilson: Sought transparency on Noosa Woods jetty options and sites; staff to brief councillors with multi-criteria assessments and stakeholder inputs (01:51:00–01:54:57; Minutes 8.2). Jessica Phillips: Challenged prioritisation sequencing across river projects when progress varies; staff explained budgeted legacy scopes advanced first, others queued via CWE and budget (01:55:37–01:57:43; Minutes 8.2). Legal / Risk Richard MacGillivray: Policy anchors in Local Government Act 2009 and related laws; requires procedural fairness, natural justice, and adherence to prescribed statutory processes (01:56–11:12; Minutes 7.1). Frank Wilkie: Warned councillor advocacy for outcomes in live enforcement may be perceived as corrupting process; staff reinforced strict role separation (17:31–18:22; Minutes 7.1). Shaun Walsh: Seawall at Main Beach: 50% Council co-funding with disaster funding; design to meet modern standards while protecting surf break and enabling rapid post-storm nourishment (01:11:49–01:15:19; 01:19:50–01:20:03; Minutes 8.1). Larry Sengstock: Tightened grant discipline to avoid unfunded co-contributions and scope creep; improved cost estimation to reduce overruns amid inflationary market (01:23:01–01:25:23; Minutes 8.1). Shaun Walsh: QRA disaster program (~$135m, 21 sites to 3) imposes heavy governance, procurement and asset reconciliation load; parallel delivery risk managed via dedicated coordinator and reporting (01:26:21–01:29:15; Minutes 8.1). Conflicts of Interest Jessica Phillips: Declared a declarable COI re Cooroy Sports Complex Gymnastics upgrade (temporary senior squad coach); permitted to remain and vote as report was for noting and no personal benefit or loss, but did not vote on the COI resolution (52:18–01:02:56; Minutes 8.1, COI under Ch 5B, s150ES). Environmental Concerns Richard MacGillivray: Cited enforcement against environmental harm; examples included illegal vegetation clearing and dog control, with repeat offenders escalating to formal action (06:49–09:27; 28:47–33:49; Minutes 7.1). Shaun Walsh: Seawall design to preserve beach amenity and consider living seawalls on the riverfront; proposes quicker nourishment to restore profiles post-storms (01:11:49–01:15:19; 01:30:43–01:32:03; Minutes 8.1). Staff: Planned pool fencing safety education ahead of summer; targeted comms guided by new compliance data dashboards (37:13–39:36; Minutes 7.1). Security, Crime and Assets Shaun Walsh: Recurrent thefts at Noosa Botanic Gardens (rare plants, equipment) triggered emergent CCTV upgrade aligned to Council standards, approved via CWE (01:09:02–01:11:09; Minutes 8.1). Larry Sengstock: Noted one-lane reopening at Black Mountain will initially exclude waste services due to delays; emergency services notified (01:37:14–01:37:53; Minutes 8.1). Noosa River Boating Infrastructure & Funding Shaun Walsh: Traditional funding split: MSQ funds over-water (jetties/ramps), Council funds landside (abatements, parking, paths), with assets then handed to Council; MSQ’s flagged willingness to fund landside works is atypical and promising (01:40:53–01:42:36; Minutes 8.2). Larry Sengstock: MSQ confirmed $2.5m allocation by email; scope (including whether project management and landside works are eligible) pending clarification before community engagement on priorities (01:44:40–01:46:14; Minutes 8.2). Shaun Walsh: Noosa Woods jetty consultancy will surface options (public recreation vs commercial drop-off vs future public transport), with multi-criteria assessment and stakeholder input before councillor briefing (01:51:53–01:54:41; Minutes 8.2). Shaun Walsh: Prioritisation mechanics: legacy budgeted scopes (Noosaville Foreshore Master Plan, Noosa Woods jetty) advance first; new designs (e.g., Hilton Esplanade) queued via CWE and the budget process (01:55:37–01:57:43; Minutes 8.2).
Official Meeting Minutes
MINUTES Services & Organisation Committee Meeting Tuesday, 6 May 2025 1:30 PM Council Chambers, 9 Pelican Street, Tewantin Committee: Crs Karen Finzel (Chair), Cr Jessica Phillips, Cr Frank Wilkie, Cr Nicola Wilson “Noosa Shire – different by nature” SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 6 MAY 2025 1. DECLARATION OF OPENING The meeting was declared open at 1.34 PM. 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY Noosa Council respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters of the Noosa area, the Kabi Kabi people, and pays respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. 3. ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cr Karen Finzel (Chair) Cr Frank Wilkie Cr Jessica Phillips Cr Nicola Wilson NON-COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cr Tom Wegener (for Item 7.1) Cr Amelia Lorentson (for Item 7.1) EXECUTIVE Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock Director Development & Regulation Richard MacGillivray Acting Director Corporate Services Margaret Gatt Director Infrastructure Services Shaun Walsh APOLOGIES Nil. 4. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES Committee Resolution Moved: Cr Frank Wilkie Seconded: Cr Jessica Phillips The Minutes of the Services & Organisation Committee Meeting held on 8 April 2025 be received and confirmed. Carried unanimously. 5. PRESENTATIONS Nil. 6. DEPUTATIONS Nil. SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 6 MAY 2025 7. REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE COMMITTEE 7.1. INTEGRATED COMPLIANCE & ENFORCEMENT POLICY Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Karen Finzel Seconded: Cr Jessica Phillips That Services & Organisation Committee Agenda Item 7.1 be referred to the General Committee due to the significance of the issue. Carried unanimously. 7.2. NOOSA SHIRE COUNCIL SOLE AND SPECIALISED LISTS Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Karen Finzel Seconded: Cr Jessica Phillips That Council note the report by the Procurement & Contracts Advisor to the Services & Organisation Committee Meeting dated 6 May 2025 and adopt the amendments to the Specialised Supplier List with a change to the name in the table in the Report in Row 2 from Lucid Inc to Lucid Software Inc. for the remaining term of the list’s validity period, being until 16 October 2025. Carried unanimously. 8. REPORTS FOR NOTING BY THE COMMITTEE 8.1. CAPITAL PROGRAM 2024/2025 DELIVERY STATUS In accordance with Chapter 5B of the Local Government Act 2009, Cr Phillips provided the following declaration to the meeting of a declarable conflict of interest in this matter: I, Cr Phillips, inform the meeting that I have a declarable conflict of interest in this matter in relation to Cooroy Sports Complex Gymnastics Upgrade and upcoming tender mentioned in the Capital Program Delivery Status Report, as I am the senior squad Coach of the Club in a temporary capacity. As per previous declarations, although I have a declarable conflict of interest, I do not believe a reasonable person could have a perception of bias as I do not stand to receive a personal benefit or loss in relation to this matter. Therefore, I will choose to remain in the meeting room. However, I will respect the decision of the meeting on whether I can remain and participate in the decision. Committee Resolution Moved: Cr Karen Finzel Seconded: Cr Nicola Wilson That Council note the declarable conflict of interest by Cr Phillips and determine that in accordance with s150ES of the Local Government Act 2009, and having considered the Councillor's conflict of interest as described, it is decided that Cr Phillips may participate and vote on this matter in relation to the Cooroy Sports Complex Gymnastics Upgrade mentioned in the Capital Program Delivery Status SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 6 MAY 2025 Report which is only a report for noting, as Cr Phillips does not stand to receive a personal benefit or loss in relation to this matter. Carried unanimously. Cr Phillips having declared a conflict of interest was not eligible to vote. Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Nicola Wilson Seconded: Cr Karen Finzel That Council note the report by the Director Infrastructure Services to the Services & Organisation Committee Meeting, 6 May 2025, providing an update on the delivery of the 2024/25 Capital Works Program as at 31 March 2025. Carried unanimously. 8.2. NOOSA RIVER RECREATIONAL BOATING FACILITIES - UPDATE Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Jessica Phillips Seconded: Cr Karen Finzel That Services & Organisation Committee Agenda Item 8.2 be referred to the General Committee due to the significance of the issue. Carried unanimously. 9. CONFIDENTIAL SESSION Nil. 10. MEETING CLOSURE The meeting closed at 3.34 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Karen Finzel 00:00.861
Are we good? No, not yes, we're on. A good afternoon and welcome to the Services & Organisation Committee meeting Tuesday 6th of May 2025 commencing at 1:34pm. I'd like to acknowledge the Noosa Council proudly acknowledges and respects Australia's First Nations people and their deep and abiding connection to this country. We recognise the Kabi Kabi people as the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters of the Noosa area and offer gratitude. To their careful custodianship of this unique environment over thousands of years. I note that all councils are in attendance and in the observers area we have Councillor Lorentson, welcome, and Councillor Tom Wegener. Can we please have a confirmation for the Minutes? Moved by Councillor Wilkie. Do we have a seconder? Seconded by Councillor Phillips. We'll take it to the vote. Is there any comments? All in favour? And that's unanimous. Thank you. We're up to item number four for presentations. There are no presentations? No. There are no deputations? We're moving into item number seven, Reports for consideration of the Committee. We're moving into item 7.1, Integrated Compliance & Enforcement Policy. There has been a request to move this the General Committee for significance of the matter. However, I will invite the staff to give us an overview. And welcome to the table. Richard MacGillivray 01:55.317
Yeah, so Richard and Bronwyn, business integration improvement officer with me. So we're doing a bit of a duo today. Yeah, so look all Councillors, I'll just give you run the policy now. So the purpose of this report is to give Council the decision to adopt an Integrated Compliance & Enforcement Policy. The aims to enhance governance and provides a clear framework for Council to administer its regulatory responsibilities in a safe, fair, unbiased, balanced, consistent transparent manner. Noosa Council is responsible for administering a range of laws and regulations as set out in the Local Government Act 2009, including council's local law and various other Federal and state legislation. The laws are intended to govern community activities to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the community, and that harm, including environmental harm, is prevented. Working with over 60 pieces of legislation, council's compliance teams manage a diverse range of compliance activities including, but not limited to, building and plumbing, development and land use matters, environmental matters, animal management, public health and food licensing, parking and a range of local laws. The policy seeks to establish the best practice compliance approaches by applying the following nine principles, which are outlined in the report to its regulatory activities, decision making and enforcement actions. It ensures legal compliance, protects public safety and welfare, promotes consistency and fairness, enhances transparency and accountability, and aids in the efficient resource management by prioritising enforcement actions based on risk and impact to our environment and the community. The policy follows a tiered compliance model, with enforcement actions escalating based on the relevant factors to ensure a fair and just process. For officers to respond appropriately on each case. Enforcement actions may include voluntary self-compliance, educational and advisory actions, through to formal compliance and remedial actions, penalty infringement notices and prosecutions for the most serious of offences. When determining the appropriate action, Council considers factors such as risk level, nature severity of the breach, likelihood of compliance, public interest and community impact and also legal considerations. The policy was developed in collaboration with our governance branch, managers and staff and representatives of our internal compliance reference working similar policies are common amongst many local and state government authorities that undertake compliance and regulatory activities the policy also addresses an existing policy gap that aims to improve governance and community awareness and address risks related to consistency and decision-making and transparency and compliance and enforcement matters and happy to take any questions from Councillors thank you Karen Finzel 04:55.093
Thank you. For your report do we have any Jessica Phillips 04:57.797
Questions I know there is Thank you. I just wanted to have a chat about the definition on page 8 of the attachment is that of the attachment? Unidentified Speaker 05:13.010
Yeah, the policy. Yeah unlawful activity yes question Jessica Phillips 05:23.074
So yeah I feel that it could potentially create some um, maybe. Misunderstanding communication. In community when they see that definition and so do you mind just giving me a little bit more information around why that's included? Richard MacGillivray 05:41.153
Yeah for sure look it is included and really defines where someone is acting contrary to that legislative or approval requirements so it's just a way of defining when action or compliance action is likely to occur on review of the policy and the drafting this policy has been a work in progress for several months we've identified that the actual unlawful activity term has been removed from the actual within the policy wording so there's the potential where it actually doesn't need to be included in the definition terms because it's not actually referred to in the policy document itself so it would be my suggestion that given it's not specifically referred to in the policy it could be removed from that definition to avoid any confusion to the public or Councillors if they would request Jessica Phillips 06:38.707
So yeah I would like I'd like to see that could I ask where originally it was referred to so then I can align Richard MacGillivray 06:49.417
I will probably have to work through back through previous iterations it's been discussed with their compliance reference group for some time and with governance we've gone around several times over looking at the structure and flavour and obviously the wording as well so it might have been referenced in some of the compliance action and referred to where compliance action is likely initiated which is where there's an unlawful activity but as you're probably aware the breadth of compliance activities that Council undertakes is significant and I just mentioned there's about 60 pieces of legislation that Council is responsible for administering some from you know parking which is a bit more black and white through to other matters of planning and environmental and food and health as well so there is a very broad range of compliance activities and unlawful activity is you know as yes is referring to an activity itself where that could parking be a situation or dog off leash even which could be also considered unlawful activity as well. Jessica Phillips 07:58.515
I guess given the nature of just this being highlighted I'd like to Frank Wilkie 08:10.491
We could probably discuss it further there because I'd like to understand the benefit of having the pros and cons of having the term unlawful activity included in the policy. I'm assuming it helps define whether an act needs compliance action or not. Unidentified Speaker 08:28.865
Correct. Richard MacGillivray 08:30.611
And it's taken of that as the threshold of where compliance action would be initiated. In a lot of instances, Council may receive. Council may receive a complaint or an issue or concern raised or it might identify itself, it's not until an investigation has been undertaken when it determines when there has been an offence. So in some instances, in a lot of cases, Council receives complaints but there might not be a breach of any laws or permit requirements. And therefore Council doesn't initiate any action because it can't. It's only once an offence has been identified, potentially contrary to law, where actions can be undertaken and that can go right through to formal prosecution. It's been a whole range. Nicola Wilson 09:20.355
So perhaps that could be referred to as a breach rather than a lawful action? Yeah, correct. It seems to then. Richard MacGillivray 09:28.184
Yeah, and you'll note throughout the report it does refer to breaches. So it's not specific to one activity. It's referring to a whole range of matters where there might be a breach of legislation, permit conditions or the like. Doesn't require necessarily specific definition. Frank Wilkie 09:48.050
From my perspective whatever is helpful to give staff clear direction on whether to take action or not. Correct. Whether it's breach of law or unlawful activity. It's the same thing, doesn't it? Absolutely. Richard MacGillivray 09:59.725
And you'd be aware that under various legislative provisions is often the prescribed compliance processes outlined in the relevant legislation or the regulations. So we have to follow those. This is just giving an overarching approach to how we go about our activities, trying to provide some consistency and transparency to our local community as well as they know what to expect from us about how we go around our duties. And this just helps to guide staff on a consistent way that we follow our key principles around how we go about applying our processes as well. So there be will a range of standard operating procedures that cascade underneath this policy that will be consistent with this framework and that will be relevant to the different areas of our businesses and the legislation that we regulate. Frank Wilkie 10:48.104
And you mentioned earlier, it might have been in the agenda review, that this replaces a policy that was inherited from the DMO demotion process. Could you explain how this is an evolution of that? Different it is to what we inherited? Richard MacGillivray 11:09.408
Yes, so there was a previous policy that came through, I guess, this de DMO-amalgamation Sunshine Coast Council policy. There was never any formal Noosa Council endorsed policy. So really the main changes are just making sure it's more contemporary, the use of more contemporary wording, being clear around the model and the principles that we apply. So we've obviously just made sure that they're fit for purpose and contemporary and resonate with our community and apply the principles of natural justice which haven't necessarily changed but we want to make sure that at the forefront. Also we promote voluntary compliance because that's the most cost and efficient and form of compliance you can get and reality is most people do the right thing so we want to reward and recognise that within our community but we also acknowledge that there are situations where we need to take firm compliance action to address particular risks to our community environment and we those tools and levers available and that might be through formal notices to penalty infringement notices right through to prosecution for those most serious offences. Jessica Phillips 12:26.982
I have one more question Pritchard. Just to seek around some the roles and responsibilities. Of Councillors. Page five. Parts of this I fully appreciate. I just want to seek some clarification. Maintaining procedural fairness and protect the rights of individuals. The integrity of the process, Councillors must not involve themselves in negotiating and resolving outcomes with aggrieved parties nor advocating on behalf of the representing parties. Councillors can assist constituents in raising concerns relating to compliance and enforcement by referring them to the appropriate functional area which I use a lot so that process makes sense to me. I guess my question is to assist when people when community contact us to things that may be going that they're a bit frustrated with or need questions answered how does this help? Karen Finzel 13:43.757
The administrative us and us to come to a good outcome? So do you think in terms of advocacy in our role as Council representatives like how does that affect us when we're trying to represent our community if we do refer for functional procedural and operational matters? How does that affect our advocacy role? Jessica Phillips 14:06.586
Yes it does look it makes me feel like my role might be a bit more challenging with this part in here. Richard MacGillivray 14:13.973
Yeah no look thank you. The reason for being clear about that and again council's role, councillors obviously involve the strategic setting direction for the organisation. A lot of the functions regarding compliance matters, particularly action has been initiated, so there is identified as a breach. There are sort of formal statutory processes and sometimes they can be subject to litigation and challenges as well. So the reason for removing the negotiation and resolving with the Councillors as such and those two specific terms is so that Councillors don't get caught in a situation where matters might end up in court and there might be confusion to the various parties around who's actually making the decisions or who's initiating the action. Our view is that our community see us as Council so as Council and obviously the Councillors have a different role than the operational arm but it just it makes it very clear for our community who they'll be dealing with and how they'll respond to that certainly doesn't prevent Councillors from being informed and updated and briefed on matters as they arise certainly community will reach out to Councillors for their involvement but it's really important that once an activity or a compliance activity has been initiated that it should be left with the operational arm to avoid confusion to the parties because that can potentially affect and impact on our ability to effectively undertake compliance action we also acknowledge too that we go through a very robust process to get all the facts and information out there and that can be challenging when one party approaches a Councillor and you might not be hearing from the three or four or five other property owners that might be upset because of particular and lawful activity so we're mindful that councils don't necessarily have all the time to be across all of those bits of information, whereas staff who are administering the compliance action have to absorb all of that information and go through a very thorough process to understand the facts and evidentiary elements before they'll determine whether to take action or not. So a lot of this is designed to protect Councillors and but also make it clear to our community that the process and who will be leading the compliance activity through that process and councils are most welcome to seek briefings and updates on any particular matter at any point in time but just the message to the community is you're happy to receive and even refer on matters to staff and they'll appropriately action those but to expect the Councillors to be the negotiator and the resolver of all complaints particularly when there's a legal framework or process involved is unfair on Councillors as well. And it also you know from a good governance perspective it just keeps the role separate from the strategic Councillor role versus the operational arm as well so the policy is just designed to make it clearer for the community and Councillors and operational staff as well. Hopefully that helps. Clarify. I think so, thank you. Frank Wilkie 17:22.805
I think Councillor Phillips has asked a very important question there and it's really important that it's clarified because if I understand correctly what this is saying is, for example, we often get appeals from help from people. Who are facing enforcement action and a decision has been made. It's okay for us to direct them towards an appeals process. It's entirely another thing for us to advocate on their behalf for staff and say I think this to be a different decision because that's actually a perversion of proper process and we'll be accused of corrupting proper process and looking after our friends whereas the process ought to be allowed to run its course without our perceived interference. Even we think we're advocating for a community member, it's actually interference in the proper process. Is that the intention of it? Helping keep Councillors clear of that? Richard MacGillivray 18:22.032
Correct. Make it very clear of those roles, responsibilities. As you pointed out, you know, happy to support Councillors in their role to advise their community members around what are their appeal or options, or what's the, are there any processes there? We have to be careful in those spaces so that we don't set up an expectation where if they do appeal, I'll be successful and, make sure that I understand the risks and consequences of doing that, but nonetheless we want to provide that information to the party so that they're aware and informed around what decisions that they can make. Frank Wilkie 18:59.587
Yes, was there any antiquated that we've inherited from the inherited policy which ought to be, has any antiquated language been removed? Like, for example, unlawful activities, is that considered antiquated language? Richard MacGillivray 19:17.635
Not necessarily an antiquated language as such. I can't remember off the top of my head if that term was specifically mentioned, bron. Can you remember if it was? Bronwyn 19:27.565
I can't remember, but if it was in the definitions I would suspect it would have been in previous versions of the document. Richard MacGillivray 19:34.525
What we could do for General Committee then, given it's been referred, is that we could, yeah, we could pick out some of what the previous language is and what it's to as well. Certainly this has become a lot clearer around the key principles that we applied and investigating and taking action against matters. The tiered compliance model is a lot clearer in this arrangement and also the factors for consideration of where compliance action is taken is a lot clearer and simplified and modernised. Well. So they're the key sort of changes that's been introduced since the previous policy from Sunshine Coast Council does. Yeah, fantastic. Are you happy Councillor? Jessica Phillips 20:17.706
I'm happy for it to go to general and if I have more Karen Finzel 20:19.972
Questions between now and then. Thank you. Any further questions? From Councillors at the table? Just calling on the Councillors in the gallery, do you have any further questions before we move it forward? Amelia Lorentson 20:38.202
Been no external consultation with community. The question is why? But there is. The report also states the whole thing was developed in collaboration with governance, branch managers and reps of the internal compliance and reference group. Can you explain your sense on the internal reference group and, again, why was this policy not shared with the broader community, even if it was an exercise in educating them on their obligations? Applications, compliance applications. Richard MacGillivray 21:14.412
Yeah, so the compliance internal reference group consists of all of the branch managers that undertake compliance activities, so building and plumbing, development and assessment, local laws, environmental health, and then within that group we've also got representatives from, so staff, so on the ground, so there's at least two officers from each of those branches also sitting on that group, and this is all designed to get more consistency, operational efficiency in terms of all that compliance. Staff so that they can share experiences, also help each other and support each other through the process and get, work together to get more efficiencies in terms of compliance activities. So in terms of the consultation process, so because I guess this is a document that has essentially had a policy gap there, we have designed this policy and built it up based on best practice, I guess, using similar models and good governance practices to ensure that we cover off the key elements of what good policy would look like in a compliance setting, applying principles of natural justice, procedural fairness, so key elements that we apply in our day to business and make that really clear to the public. Generally we wouldn't consult broadly on with this we essentially would set the expectations of how we administer our functions to the community and like any policy if we receive feedback throughout the course of our duties and the community raises questions about particular elements so that we're able to review and update that over time as well and I guess that's what we'd be seeking with such a policy of this particular nature. Karen Finzel 23:00.589
Thanks Amelia. Thank you. Councillor Wegener. Thank you Amelia. Tom Wegener 23:08.898
When it comes to I'm going to put jess's second question concerning the roles of Councillors, there's one word not nor on behalf or advocating representing parties. I'm a little bit concerned with the word nor advocating on behalf of constituents and it just seems to be a bit of a contradiction from the first sentence which is maintain procedural fairness. The rights of individuals and the integrity of the process. So maybe for the General Committee could you kind of outline a bit more about what advocacy means because we get called you know daily about a tree or this or that and you know that concept of what advocacy is really tricky like well one time I had a resident of the tree and the arborist said you know you can't cut it down and then another Council staff comes in and says we'll cut the whole thing down and they came to me it was a you know it was quite a bit and I felt that you know I was put in the middle there. I was I'm just I'm finding it a little bit that that's a little bit nebulous for me Karen Finzel 24:25.381
Yeah. So Councillor Wegener what would be your question to the staff please? Thank you. Tom Wegener 24:32.370
Give somebody, put some flesh on the bones with the word advocating. What does that mean? What isn't advocating? What is advocating? It's something that we're faced with daily. Richard MacGillivray 24:41.968
Yeah, great question as well. And to Mayor frank's points earlier, so obviously advocating is not necessarily seeking a particular outcome for a particular party, where that would be, you know, because obviously in the role of a, you know, undertaking compliance action, you're looking at all the sides of the equation as well. It's not necessarily between one party, it might be an agreed neighbour is another party. So we'll be looking at all of that, but also appreciate that councils are often approached by one of the parties at least often and so they are raising their particular concern with the Councillor and then expecting that the Councillor can then influence on the decision making, which is not the case. Advocacy can be raising concerns and it might be from multiple customers or a particular person that can come and raise through the CEO and obviously myself if there's procedural related matters and we're happy to address those sorts of things but if there's an advocacy piece about a particular matter that you want to see an outcome or a party is asking you to seek a particular outcome from a compliance activity then that would be what we'd say is improper because that's seeking to influence over a decision as opposed to sharing information for myself or the CEO that we need to be aware of around our for example our policies being applied in terms of procedural fairness making sure that the action-taking is proportionate and fair and again we would be using our principles to sort of guide us to make sure that action is appropriate and all of the circumstances noting that there are also reviewable decisions as well so people can contest if they feel like the decision is or sufficient. Not as well so there are grounds there but advocacy is purely about advocating for the application I guess of process as opposed seeking to drive a particular outcome on a particular matter processes okay yes yeah driving processes yeah yes correct Tom Wegener 26:55.284
Thank you Richard. Karen Finzel 26:58.784
Councillor Wegener do you think that would be helpful so to answer that question with some reference also to the process of Councillors referring on would you like some clarification around that in conjunction with advocacy yes I was stepping back to what Councillor Phillips brought to the table about referring on to the correct areas and things like that would you like some clarification around advocacy and referring yeah Tom Wegener 27:32.245
Yeah yeah please yeah thank you Richard MacGillivray 27:35.709
Yeah yeah absolutely and again yeah Councillors referring on matters raised from the community is absolutely fine and a lot of our the work that comes through from the compliance team is referred on from Councillors when they're alerted to particular issues in our community so we'd certainly encourage that to continue because again your eyes and ears in contact of a lot our community members and they often will come to you directly and then that can come through and be captured formally and then we can attend to matters accordingly from there and keep councils updated on particular issues if they want to keep abreast of what's happening and very small stones through throughout those processes. Jessica Phillips 28:14.842
Thank you Richard. Yes Councillor Phillips. Sorry just two more points Richard. The compliance model, the tiered compliance model it speaks about with enforcement actions escalating based on relevant factors. The word relevant factors is in the report twice and I wonder if perhaps we could have maybe some examples about what an irrelevant factor may be yeah Richard MacGillivray 28:50.323
Are factors considered and so these are referred to as where Council may consider the relevant factors I'll give you a good example of where some of those elements will apply so there might be a situation where a new residents come to the Coast and is wanting to exercise their animal they're unfamiliar with possibly some of the signage and they stepped from the off leash area onto one of our on leash areas accidentally staff were doing patrols and pulled over and had a conversation with the person and they explained we're very sincere about the situation and misunderstood the signage staff potentially could apply a portion and so capture it as a portion with the details from that person but not might not initiate a formal infringement notice for that whereas there might be a situation where we've had a repeat offender who's been clearing vegetation against the back of the national park and we've warned this person before we might proceed straight to taking formal compliance action whether it be through a formal notice or potentially prosecution so there's a whole range of factors and if you look at the definitions under risk so level refers to severity of harm caused by the breach so actually what's the tangible impact from the offence nature and severity of the breach so again the scale of the impact in terms of the non-compliance is this very low-lying or is it very significant the likelihood of compliance as I mentioned to you the compliance history and attitude has a big part to do with other remorseful was this an accidental thing as opposed to an intentional thing also how responsive to they in some situations that want to make amends and address the breach or offence that's might be a structure that's being erected against a neighbouring property for example and they will remove or alter it very quickly which might determine how forceful we are with any compliance action there's obviously then the public interest in community impact element so again, what are the broader implications of us taking action or not taking action in relation to an offence an example could be issuing an infringement for parking so if we don't it's probably not a good time but if we don't issue a ticket then people will just park there and won't move and then business turnover won't occur and businesses will suffer and there'll be a more broader impact to a community so the reason we do that is so that we reinforcing and help support business and community to have the appropriate turnover as well and in the last piece is legal consideration so this is where we have to evaluate the evidence that we have and the likelihood and prospects of success. If we were to go through a formal process so the evidentiary train is really critical in terms of the severity of action you're likely to take and the likelihood of sort of successfully prosecuting a compliance matter if you do good to go down that path I guess at the end. Jessica Phillips 32:11.453
Okay does that help a bit? It does yeah and it just interestingly when you're reading at the factors considered in enforcement the only other little thing and it's so small but the word Council may consider the following factors could there be consideration to the word Council should consider the following factors? Richard MacGillivray 32:32.228
Yeah yeah look um the inclusion of mays because there's so many again pieces of legislation that councils responsible for administering and some of those provisions do put certain constraints around staff can do in terms of the compliance staff can do in terms of those offences in some cases there's no other choice apart from you either do nothing or you take action so it doesn't give a lot of leeway between you know what you can or can't do so you've either got to apply one for example like a parking offence there's no sort of middle ground saying I'll give you half a fine or a bit of a fine or yeah it's either one or the other yeah Jessica Phillips 33:17.017
It was just the one with public interest and community impact I felt when I read it that should be consideration to every part of the legislation yeah so then it would be encompassing all of it and the other ones I'd appreciate would be and I can Richard MacGillivray 33:30.744
Yeah and I can tell you in most of the legislation regulations it already factors in those elements in there as well and obviously there's reviewable processes for those exact reasons to provide procedural fairness to people and to the various parties as well if they feel unjust about particular action or activity that's happening. Jessica Phillips 33:52.749
Oh, that sounded like I was back at court. Tom Wegener 33:54.456
Oh, no, it's a bit dry. Karen Finzel 34:00.096
Thank you. Yes, a question from the gallery from Councillor Lorentson. Amelia Lorentson 34:04.201
Hi, Richard. I understand enforcement is and compliance is black and white. And wrong. But given we live in a community, has there been any consideration given to maybe discretionary powers, for instance, for the CEO to waive out some compliance or infringement understanding and. Recognising that we have a community, that cost of living is a big deal. And I know this firsthand from the many, emails that I get of in unpaid registrations or fines. It's a really big deal. You know, $308 for registration, or whether it's an infringement. Can we, I don't know, can we give our city. Some discretionary powers that under some extenuating circumstances, he can waiver an infringement and just sort of sold back to black and white enforcement compliance area. Richard MacGillivray 35:19.968
Yeah, look, thank you, Amelia. Amy. So there is already discretionary power. So, you know, for infringements issued, for example, for parking or even animal management related, there is the ability to apply for a review. So, so staff deal with those requests on a daily basis, but people might challenge evidence particular or circumstances relating to their situation. So there are provisions already for staff to review and apply an element of discretion based on the relevant facts and circumstances of particular matters. We understand that not all black and white and there are situations where there might be other relevant factors that need to be considered in terms of decision making. So the public have that element there. In terms of staff having discretion, so a lot of the focus of this document is to actually empower staff to make really good decisions on the ground because they are the one at the coalface understanding what's actually happening what are the real impacts. This policy is actually designed to support them in their roles so it's really clear about how they go about assisting the community understanding you uh you know with real impacts to the community or whether it's a technical breach but not actually one that's got consequence so rather than having a very black and white where you must take action even though it's a very minor and consequential issue is this an opportunity to provide good education to the community and this document provides them flexibility but also a clear set of guardrails and a framework that compliance staff can operate in that gives certainty to them in their role but also to our community who might be at the receiving end of this action and have a understanding what they're likely to expect from those officers when they're conducting their duties so hopefully that helps answer your question you Karen Finzel 37:13.411
Thank you Richard Richard MacGillivray 37:14.895
I have one more Jessica Phillips 37:15.738
Thank you in relation to voluntary self-compliance since that seems to be the one we want to encourage the most what sort of comms do we do in relation to education to create that yeah voluntary compliance Richard MacGillivray 37:32.184
Yeah so look comms is important part through a social media proactively making aware about particular issues in our community doing media releases on stories whether it be good or bad news so sometimes it's for example you'd be aware about a sign we installed when there's some illegal clearing that occurred in the eastern beaches we use that opportunity to promote that you know when this situation arises we'll take firm action and so there's some of their duties some of the other things as simple as undertaking proactive patrols along our beaches. So that so is an opportunity to promote our community that we're out there monitoring we certainly want to support people doing the right thing and there's obviously more work to do in that space and we do more proactive education there on particular issues where we are noticing an increase or a change in behaviours across our community one of the big things we've started doing is to and bronwyn's been instrumental in that is creating dashboards so we understand the change in statistics over time of what's actually happening and that we need to put a more concerted focus on particular issues that are being more frequently raised within our community and then we can have a more targeted campaign particular issues another thing we're looking at doing later this year is another example is around pool fencing safety and as we lead into the summer months so we'll be doing an active campaign to help promote that in advance of there being any incidents so that people are aware of their obligations for managing you know pool fences and pool safety and things like that so that's just one example food safety is another one where there were changes to the food act regulations recently the team was out there in some media coverage and we met with a whole businesses to explain what the new changes meant for those businesses as well so there's plenty to do in the space and we need to do more as well Jessica Phillips 39:34.232
Thank you I'm excited about the pool fencing I think that's fantastic. Absolutely. Karen Finzel 39:44.771
Thank you. Richard. Councillor Lorentson do you want to finish yours? Yes Councillor Wegener, thank you. Tom Wegener 39:57.684
I know this is the Integrated Compliance & Enforcement Policy but a lot of the issues come that are raised from neighbourhood disputes and neighbour disputes and we're I think when we talked about this in the meetings we actually talked about maybe that should be a part of the program as well like dealing to you're trying to cut off the dispute early because it's just a neighbourhood neighbour dispute that evolves into these complaints and things and they try to defuse hmm is that possible for Council to get involved in that speech or is that outside of the scope of the meeting? Richard MacGillivray 40:32.964
Yeah look that probably sits a little bit outside this policy but I absolutely agree with you I think there's an opportunity more both as state government but also local government level around providing the tools for people to conversations with their neighbours and what are some of the things that they could approach a neighbour about a difficult issue often local governments and Noosa Council is no different often gets engaged in an issue when there's often a dispute between parties and you know often used as the mediator to their Resolve the concerns whereas really we want to promote good neighbourly interactions and our preference again is for those to be resolved between the parties we probably need to look some of the access to the tools I know the State government have a range of tools to deal with sort of neighbourly dispute related matters but there's certainly more work that could be done to help assist in resolving some of those civil disputes, particularly before staff are involved at rate payer cost to Resolve some of these disputes. So there's certainly an opportunity more in that space. Karen Finzel 41:39.958
Thank you Richard. Cancel. Are we finished? Councillor Wegener? Yeah just before we move on, thank you Richard. A question then to the CEO in terms of like firm and fairness and our you know to affirm our connection you know with our community and bring them on through this journey of education in of when this is verified and posted up onto our website, is there an opportunity to add you know some points we've discussed today as access and education when people go and look it up on our website, is there an opportunity that we can clarify some of those issues that you raised today through the website? Larry Sengstock 42:18.999
Certainly, I think we can always improve our website and always improve our communications through that medium. So once it's a start and providing as you say it really is education first thing and then the various steps after that. So if we can do more of that, certainly, I'd be happy for us to us explore opportunities and ways to do that. Fantastic. Karen Finzel 42:40.566
And also I see opportunity around working maybe closer with our business chambers when we talk about education around certain things maybe that's a good opportunity to do that. Know look at supporting them through facilitate that education takes pressure off some of our staff and maybe bring the business chambers in too to work in that space. Richard MacGillivray 43:01.270
All the food licensing regulations and rules there's a good opportunity for us to share information around what they mean and how businesses can navigate through that process absolutely so there's lots of different opportunities that we could continue to you know to use as an opportunity to build networks Karen Finzel 43:19.992
Fantastic it's always better to be on the front foot isn't it especially in these spaces yeah fantastic well thank you so much for your report thank you Councillors so we'll move that to take it to the general yeah I'll move that and a seconder by Councillor Phillips we'll take it to the vote all in favour humanity. That's unanimous thank you. Moving on to Reports for consideration of the Committee we've got 7.2 Noosa Shire Council solve. Sole and specialised list. Thank you staff for your input. You. Welcome to the table. Good afternoon. Good afternoon Councillors. Margaret Gatt 44:09.891
As you would be aware each year we bring you a list of specialised and sole suppliers. The current list that approved by you in October last year is still current but we've, the organisations identified some opportunities to amend that list and we've got a range of things for your consideration in this report and I'll hand over to Leigh to take us through the detail. Leigh 44:32.664
Thank you Leigh very much. Just before I get into the detail can I please just draw your attention to the list on page two. There is a slight amendment to one of the suppliers Lucid Inc should actually be Lucid Software Inc. So it will be Lucid Software Inc that will be being proposed to add. Karen Finzel 44:58.925
Yeah thank you for bringing that to attention so I think we'll can we deal with this matter first before we proceed? Yes okay thank you so I'll take it to the vote to note this and move recommendation that we change the wording to read change to the name in the table in the report in row two from Lucid Inc to Lucid Software Inc. Do we have a seconder for that? Thank you that's seconded by Councillor Phillips. We'll take that to the vote all in favour? Are we talking about the item first? Oh I thought we moved just this bit first. This is the whole recommendation. Oh sorry, thank you Mr Mayor. I was just getting excited. Enthusiasm, love the enthusiasm. Unidentified Speaker 45:44.683
Let's just deal with this. Matt and google are next. Don't worry. There you go, I'll be a pusher. Larry Sengstock 45:53.742
Can't slip things out. Alright, thank you. We want to keep the same movement second or do we want to take that off and just. No, it can be moved. We can move to that now. If you want, that's all. Karen Finzel 46:07.088
Are we all in agreeance around the table? Yes. Fantastic, we'll move forward. Thank you. A review from the staff about the report. Leigh 46:15.188
Thank you. So the details around the report is that obviously procurement of council's goods and services must be carried out in compliance with the Local Government Act and the Local Government Regulation and the regulation provides for procurement of medium-sized and large-sized contracts and also allows for exceptions. Requirements under certain circumstances such as the approval of a supplier being deemed a specialised provider. So the current Specialised Supplier List was adopted as was noted by Council on 17th of October 2024 and is valid for 12 months and this report actually seeks the mid-term amendment of the Specialised Supplier List for the remaining term of the list validity Karen Finzel 47:07.224
Thank you I do just have a question if businesses are interested in doing this you know for now and into the future. What is what's the process if someone's interested in wanting to be considered for Leigh 47:19.442
The suppliers list? From an internal perspective so obviously we have the option to go to market via process either competitive or via the exception under the legislation so what we're finding is there's an increase to our procurement activities so staff are the ones who will come to us and nominate which supplier they consider should be put forward for this list and then we within the procurement will actually go through and do a review of that supplier that may mean that check to see that there no is no other means by which they can be engaged so a competitive quote within the marketplace or they're not on a current supplier panel fantastic Karen Finzel 48:18.329
Thank you any other questions from the Councillors at the table no nothing thank you Madam Chair thank you thank you for your report yeah it was good reading and it's I'm glad to see we're sticking to our processes and this is the half yearly you review over that and we've made the necessary changes so thank you keep up the good work. Thank you very much. Put it to the vote. All in favour? Thank you that's unanimous. Thank you staff enjoy your afternoon. Councillor so we're really moving to item number eight reports for noting by the committee we'll move to 8.1 Capital Program 2024/2025 Delivery Status and we welcome staff to the table. Thank you, Shaun. Shaun Walsh 49:16.719
Good Shaun Walsh, Director Infrastructure Services. I'm presenting this on behalf of the authors who are my team Aidan and Catherine. They're tied up on other capital works programs. Karen Finzel 49:25.693
Okay thank you. Can you give us please an overview? Shaun Walsh 49:29.838
Thank you, Councillor. You're welcome. This report provides a status update to the capital works program as of the 31st of March 2024 and excludes disaster recovery projects. The approved capital budget provisions 24/25 financial year is currently $46 million, inclusive of a carry forwards of $22.4 million. Actual expenditure achieved to date is $20 million, which is 43.5% of the budget, with a further $7.5 million remaining in commitments, providing a total of $27 there are current are 137 projects in the capital works program in varying stages of delivery, with forecast grant funding revenue in the tune of $11.7 million. Our team in infrastructure planning and design are 24 capital projects in delivery and providing planning and design services to over 60 projects this financial year, as well as planning for the future capital works program budget whilst budget implications have influenced the pace and project of management systems internal systems are underway with a focus on making the most of available resources and we consider the 24/25 actual spend is tracking strongly reflecting solid project delivery challenges including staffing shortages adverse weather and budget constraints the long-term average indicates that this amount of money we're spending is consistent with that some previous years capital works planning for 25/26 financial year is well underway with 16 meetings to held score and on priority prioritise new initiatives with them workshops with two executive team meetings and to be presented to Council in the near future a size of capital works program for 25/26 will require innovative delivery models to assist in delivery of the program thank you Karen Finzel 51:23.055
Shaun. It was very concise, easy to read report. What I did like was the pictures on the attachment especially around the provider kindergarten and the much loved and waited toilets and amenities out at the promoter stand top of the park out there. I know the SES that's been a long time coming so thank you to all the team and everyone that got involved there to deliver those capital works. I know the community is very excited about that. Thank you. Nicola Wilson 51:53.769
Do we have any questions around the table? Just a quick clarification which I think is just a typo but the executive summary the report the First Point says it's a status update for the capital works program as of 31st of March 2024 oh you did right, my apologies Councillor, 25 I referenced that so as well so thank you, it's not in the recommendation that it's correct then, Jessica Phillips 52:17.638
Thank you, thank you Councillor Wilson, yes Councillor Phillips, free to interject I don't know how I overlooked this but I probably have just a to declare a conflict with I've just noticed the Cooroy Sports Complex has come up obviously this is for reporting only so you haven't spoken about the report at all but the Cooroy sporting public gymnastics upgraded Multipurpose Area yes I apologise I have raised it in the past yes so consistency and we're able to pull that out I know we've had the exact same one um I apologise everyone for Shaun Walsh 52:57.125
There's no decision made in the report it's good to note it and then for consistency Unidentified Speaker 53:05.143
That's fine and then on the questions when after that yes of Karen Finzel 53:08.043
Course can you give some basics and then I can find it um it was just the Cooroy it's the Jessica Phillips 53:16.333
The report Cooroy Sports Complex gymnastics upgrade and Multipurpose Area it says it's upcoming tenders are planned for q4 2024-25 Karen Finzel 53:29.915
So you have to be voted on staying in here if you're choosing to leave to stay I'm choosing to stay yeah happy to move that do we have a second notice Frank Wilkie 53:42.413
Just so we um get the right and explains adequately declarable the wording right and explains adequately the declarable conflict of interest there's you've explains adequately there's you've mentioned the Cooroy Sports Complex mentioned the Cooroy Sports Complex gymnastics upcoming tender gymnastics club upcoming tender focus Jessica Phillips 54:01.413
It's uh the Royce sports complex gymnastics upgrade and Multipurpose Area okay that's good the correct that's the project Karen Finzel 54:11.950
Yeah I was just I'm just trying to find it Cathy if Frank Wilkie 54:15.374
I had so do we need to include some in there we need to include something in there Councillor Phillips about your link Karen Finzel 54:21.260
To that yeah I'm just trying to pass it okay take your time we can just wait for that to make sure we get it right so that everyone's comfortable yeah we need apologies everyone might be elevated music sorry, I just don't have the link yet. Well we can't have a bit of a discussion can we? I can engage the CEO for a bit. You've got to vote. Oh, because we're going to have a general conversation about the challenges of the budget and the capital risks. We'll pause but we'll pass that, the elevated music. Jessica Phillips 54:57.093
I must have. Come on. It's because I was looking at the other questions that are leading up to this. Karen Finzel 55:02.637
That's fine. These things happen. It's best that we get this right at the administrative level. And we have been very busy. Jessica Phillips 55:10.554
Thank you. Larry Sengstock 55:17.860
The report is for noting. So it's not a huge deal, Councillor, but it's just a process. You yes. Follow, isn't it? Jessica Phillips 55:43.413
Three months ago yeah but it was sorry probably. Karen Finzel 55:49.114
Sorry, I'm just going to get him to the UCM. Can you do the search? Jessica Phillips 55:55.598
I am searching, I'm just going through. I didn't realise I emailed Cathy so much. Unidentified Speaker 56:06.224
She doesn't get real practical when she does stuff like that. Karen Finzel 56:32.560
Do we want to pause? Yeah we could have a pause if you like or if you feel confident may I suggest we could have a go at some new wording because really we only want to establish your connection which is in the voluntary role. I mean if you want to have a go at that we could invite feedback. From the other Councillors to help you word it? Yes, yeah, we'd probably do it, yeah, okay. So, Councillor, if you were trying to give a few. Yeah, absolutely. Frank's well experienced. At that, I'm sure you could help us with getting the wording right. Frank Wilkie 57:08.138
I can assist, but Councillor Phillips articulates her link. Jessica Phillips 57:16.021
Thank you Karen. Senior, head coach. Until they go up all I'm doing, they don't have a senior gymnastic coach. I'm acting in that role. They've actively recruited and I think we have two weeks for state titles and my role will be finished. Temporary capacity, thank you. Unidentified Speaker 57:47.380
Thank you very much. Frank Wilkie 58:06.161
I'm not so I'm not tangerine for I'm not the upgrade of the gymnastic club. Jessica Phillips 58:16.600
I'm appointed a natural head coach commencing soon. I will also not be at the tribal in the tender. I don't know how else to. Oh yeah, okay. Karen Finzel 58:39.202
Yeah, I think, yeah, just keep at the standard. I do not stand to receive a personal benefit or loss in relation to this matter. Larry Sengstock 58:51.100
Thank you. I think if you want to start that sentence alone, you need to start with those previous declarations. Jessica Phillips 59:00.444
Yeah. Oh, okay. Larry Sengstock 59:01.211
Yeah, that would be great. So it needs to be well established as well. Yeah. That's the previous declare, declaration. Jessica Phillips 59:40.836
Thank you. Karen Finzel 59:45.222
And that's seconded by Councillor Wilson. Would you like to read and was there another question you wanted to make? No, no, that's okay. You're happy with that? Jessica Phillips 59:56.429
I, Councillor Phillips, informed the meeting that our declarable concept of interest in this matter, in relation to Cooroy, sports complex, gymnastics. Upgrade and upcoming attendance as I am the senior, you could even put I am the temporary senior head coach. You've got temporary. Of the club. Well, I'm not even the senior head coach of the club, just of the senior squad because I don't have involvement in any of the other gymnasts, so it's two senior. To 500, I have not I'm a senior squad coach, yep, of the club in a temporary capacity as per previous declaration. Although I have a declarable conflict of interest, I do not believe a reasonable person could perception of bias as I do not stand to receive a personal benefit or loss in relation to this matter. Therefore I will choose to remain in the meeting room, however I will respect the decision of the meeting on whether I can remain and participate in the decision. Karen Finzel 01:01:52.660
Okay. Do you want me to move that up? You're supposed to. Yes, thank okay. You everybody, that was good teamwork there, that's what we like to see, collaboration. The Council note the declarable conflict of interest by Councillor Phillips and determined that in accordance with the s150ES of the Local Government Act 2009, and having considered the council's conflict of interest as described, it is decided that Councillor Phillips may participate and vote on this matter relating to the capital works which is only a report for noting, in relation to the Cooroy Sports Complex Gymnastics Upgrade, as Councillor Phillips does not stand to receive a personal benefit or loss in relation to this matter. Are you happy with that? We will take it to the vote. That's all in favour, noting that Councillor Phillips did not participate in the vote. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for your patience, everybody. Back to the matter at hand. Do we have any further questions for the staff? Jessica Phillips 01:03:03.501
I do, please. Just in relation to ongoing staffing constraints continue to impact service delivery. Recruitment is underway to fill key positions with new initiatives for additional resourcing requested. The budget approval process. Could you talk me through that. Shaun Walsh 01:03:20.681
We've got a challenge because the long-term trend of our resourcing model is based around a $30 million capital works program, whereas the trend seems to be that we're somewhere between now $50 and $70 million a year in terms of capital works, but our funding staff model is based around $30 million. And you sort of think, is it a short-term blip or is it a long-term forecast, because we don't want to put on more staff prematurely. But it looks like we've got increasing confidence in the length of our capital works program. And it's apparent that, you know, we're sitting in property well under resourced to actually reasonably achieve the full extent of the capital works program, so we've done some modelling based on the upcoming capital works program for 25-26 and the staff that required to deliver the program, and that will be considered by Council as part of its 25-26 capital works allocation. Because the issues we've got is, you know, first of all, with these projects being delayed, we've got reputation in the community, they're wondering why it's taking so long, and we've also got a cost creep issues because the longer we push out the works, suddenly our cost estimates are two to three years behind, so we've got enough confidence in the program and also the modelling of the staff required to deliver it is a much more better considered argument as part of council's 2526.26 the restructuring that we have had to have done to date over the last two years is we've created a number of leadership positions at a high level and that's actually been really successful at retaining a number of key staff who show really good leadership skills and to actually you know basically by the leadership for the teams as they're populated with more resources. Jessica Phillips 01:05:00.728
To follow on from that then when where is our where's the when it says key fill key positions then what would be a position that's currently vacant? Shaun Walsh 01:05:11.400
The one position that was vacant was the manager of infrastructure planning design and delivery, Craig Aldridge, who left the organisation early this year. So we've had an acting person in that role. We've recently, who's Chris Steele, we've recently undertaken an internal development recruitment opportunity and Chris Steele has been successful at securing that role because trying technical skill with the right cultural skills when you're competing in such significant infrastructure projects across South East Queensland is incredibly competitive and the remuneration that we're able to offer which is reasonable to our Councillors. So we're having to think quite naturally about how we develop especially our internal staff. To actually meet the challenges of the infrastructure program. We've also done some other tweaks, for instance we had a graduate role that we were unable to fill but by changing the position description to a project officer role which is more an ongoing, we've actually been able to secure a person, and this is at the lower levels of the project team, because people are much more attracted to that role title, because rather than a graduate, they're actually a project officer for living and capital works program. Jessica Phillips 01:06:27.414
Thank you. The following question I have capital works planning for 2025-26 is well underway with 16 meetings held and prioritised 80 new initiatives, which have been workshopped with two executive team meetings. I guess I'm trying to get my head around capital works that we're trying to achieve and then when I see 80 new initiatives, my head gets a little bit overwhelmed about that. So could you just talk me um what's the potential risks in having 80 new initiatives? Shaun Walsh 01:07:11.436
So firstly when we present the capital works program to Councillors and workshops and meetings, we're going to be articulating the time frames really carefully because you know, we already have projects which are programmed for delivery and you know any new project may not be able to start until the new calendar year. It's not like you know when you approve a budget we don't have the resources to really switch into delivery because we've got carryover, so we'll be making that clear to you. And it's also important to note that the scale of projects. From very, you know, minor to actually very large. So a smaller project might be, for instance, starting the design process for new pedestrian access at Teewah Village to Resolve the conflict associated with pedestrians using the current beach vehicle access, which is fairly unsafe. So that's at the smaller end. Whereas some of the other new initiatives are much more complex and ongoing and will be over many years. So there's small and then there's large. I can't help but. And I should say that the initiatives also include things relative to just infrastructure planning and design, it could be acquisition of a vehicle, it could be. Which is a capital cost. So it's a fairly broad program, the capital cost program. Jessica Phillips 01:08:20.723
Yeah. I guess I'm going to try and articulate this question without. I'll give you a phrase, like I love the phrase, "Too many chiefs and not enough indians from my previous employer employment. When you're looking at vacancies, do we have more vacancies in just the doer, or more in our leadership roles? Shaun Walsh 01:08:43.453
I'm pleased to advise we've actually only got one vacancy. The actual infrastructure planning, design and delivery team. But if you ask me what our focus should be in ongoing recruitment, it's actually in the doer, not the chiefs. We've got the leadership positions we need. We actually need the feet on the ground who are actually doing the work to support those leaders. Jessica Phillips 01:09:04.215
I'll keep going with my questions to like emergent projects, could you just talk me through an area of my interest with the Cooroy Botanic Gardens CCTV upgrade? Shaun Walsh 01:09:15.251
Yes, a so our Council has a structure called the Capital Works Executive which three councils are on that committee and assist the CEO in making his delegations for emergency or emergent works. I've always seen everything within I would think he's his budget allocations. So as a result of ongoing thefts which have been significant at the Noosa Botanic Gardens particularly really valuable and rare plants at the shade house and also our Council equipment which was actually only recently acquired was almost targeted and stolen. So there was no really effective security system. There was some very amateur sort of security cameras that the thieves just cut and put drapes over. So this is actually about bringing the CCTV system in line with the balance of the CCTV system at our other Council facilities. Such as the Leisure Centre and also the GA. And that was approved by the CEO through council's Capital Works Executive in accordance with the government delegations of the committee. Jessica Phillips 01:10:15.811
Great, thank you. How does that align with the, and I might be, it might not be for this, we can take it offline, but with the CCTV strategy for the Shire, does that align when you have this come to CWE? Shaun Walsh 01:10:32.312
Yes, so finance or corporate services are on the CWE, so there are big questions to ask, particularly around where there's a public-private interface, such as Hastings Street or Cooroy, Opal Street, whereby, you know, who owns the system, who funds it, and the like. It's much clearer when we're the actual owner of the facility, such as the Leisure Centre or the library, you know, where we're in direct control of the footage, and we can, you know, have the relevant protocols, and we know that we're also responsible for the ongoing funding, because we benefit from it. So it's a little bit simpler, but I don't want to take away that there's some much more significant issues that need to be considered. The systems that we've been acquiring, such as recently the Noosa Leisure Centre, that we'll put in the Botanic Gardens are contemporary. They're back to base, so the footage feed actually goes back to monitors and screens. Held in Council facilities. So they're looking ahead in terms of good quality surveillance. That's fantastic, Jessica Phillips 01:11:29.194
Thank you. Last question, just in the tenders for the Noosa Main Beach detailed design, there was some community wanting to know maybe just a bit more around how we got to seawall design. Can you talk me through that? Shaun Walsh 01:11:50.503
Yeah, so the current seawall is over 50 years old. When the seawall was originally placed, it was the first attempts in the early 70s were basically placing a lot of rock down there, and then there's been iterations of placing more rock. The investigations to date show that rock is now, under contemporary standards, is probably undersized for do for a modern seawall. And there's also been slump, the rocks have slumped. So there are concerns that the seawall would not be resilient to a typical predicted need. So it's like a car that's 50 years old, the seawall is over 50 years old. We're very fortunate that we have narration a beach nourishment program which covers up the seawall, so you can't see those rocks in the light. So this was identified as a key risk of Council a number of years ago, and we're very fortunate to be able to attract state government funding to fund the cost of the seawall design. And when we undertake the seawall design, then we'll be in line for funding. So we don't know when that will happen. To date, we've undertaken some very targeted engagement with specific groups, such as Hastings Street Association, so they're aware of the process. But through the actual design process, there'll need to be a lot more engagement with specific stakeholders so that. They're fully aware of what the implications are. The goal is to make it look like exactly the same as it is, because, you know, the beautiful Main Beach which covers the rock is a really, really beautiful look, you know, that maximises beach area and a really gentle grade. So, but we've probably got potential to actually look at how quickly we do beach nourishment after an erosion event, so we can reinstate that beach profile as quickly as possible. At the moment there's one dredge outlet which then uses trucks to, you know, cover up the seawall. Is there opportunity for two or three? And these are some of the questions that we need to ask the community. There are also some broader issues, you know, that we're well aware of, you know, the importance of the surf break, you know, First Point, in ensuring that, you know, our coastal design processes tap into expert coastal engineers to ensure we're not inadvertently creating a problem that we didn't see. Jessica Phillips 01:13:51.217
So to clarify it's been funded. From external funding, not from Council funding to-- Shaun Walsh 01:14:04.342
Yeah, can I take that? I think there might be a Council contribution. I think it might have been a 50% co-contribution, so I'll confirm that in the email afterwards, but I'm pretty sure that there's a co-contribution from Council. Jessica Phillips 01:14:15.422
Okay, and what would be the next trigger, what will I see next before it continues down, and is it going to community consultation now, or is this still specific targeted? Shaun Walsh 01:14:28.132
So there'll be some structured conversations with the community now that we've appointed the consultants. At the moment, they're doing a survey, and there'll be some structured conversations. This project will generate a lot of interest, and we've got. Basically, a healthy, planned budget that we can use for community engagement, so we'll be discussing that further with Councillors once we have our initial information, and what level of community engagement we'd like to see in the project. Nicola Wilson 01:14:55.459
About the disruption it might cause, or about the design itself? Shaun Walsh 01:14:58.959
It will need to be both, because the disruption will be quite significant, and we know that the construction period will probably be during nice weather months, between March and October, where we also have the lower seas, so to actually allow construction. But I need to state that there's no confirmation that we'll attract funding to do the work, and we have no certainty about the timeframe of that work. So I think it's advantageous that proper disciple and Alfred, because we came very close to the waves topping over the boardwalk, and it really did give a much better understanding of the community of what happens during the southland events. And we did see some minor erosion on the southern end of the seawall, and it was really good for the community to see that, we are at risk. And thankfully, you know, we're not in a position like, you know, Bribie island, you know, where, you know, there's some natural processes which are now creating significant at-risk, you know, communities in golden beach and the like. So we're not at that position. But if we're astute and forward-thinking, we can prevent that type of, you know, fear or thought process moving forward. Jessica Phillips 01:16:01.347
Thank you. Next question is around the Shire-wide bus stop upgrades. I'm really interested to hear how that will play out for especially so many community making this one. Shaun Walsh 01:16:14.631
We're actually in the last year of a 10-year program. So you're seeing that funded by transit and Larry will know more about this program than I do. That saw the provision of bus shelters like you see outside the Council chambers here which under that design were fully DDA compliant in terms of the seating and also the arrival of the buses in terms of the signing, the tactiles and the like. So it's a great success story that when we completed the final been shelter it's been 10 years of work to achieve, you know, a much better standard of our shelters for our commonly used bus patrons across the Shire. So I can get the exact numbers but it's quite Jessica Phillips 01:16:50.959
Significant the number of shelters. And because I just, to reiterate or to clarify, this is for upgrades. For any new bus shelters. Shaun Walsh 01:17:02.179
It's not for new bus stops. It's actually a replacement of existing bus stops. And I also note that it's in relation to the transit services, not the school bus services. Unidentified Speaker 01:17:14.499
You want me to keep going? Do. Jessica Phillips 01:17:15.462
I do. It feels like the Jess show though, and I really feel bad this afternoon. Shaun Walsh 01:17:20.674
They're good questions. Thank you. I'm delighted you've read them before. I do, yeah, I did miss, there was some that I was focused on community, Jessica Phillips 01:17:33.500
Thank you know thank you. So Cooroy, Lake Macdonald Drive residential subdivision, I note that that's upcoming tenders planned for 2024/25. What will we see coming from that? Shaun Walsh 01:17:48.910
So our section's providing the project management sections, assisting our Environment Strategy area. So I'm not strategically across the next stages in that project. So I'd need to defer that to Director Kim Rawlings to help provide that answer. She's essentially the project owner and she's tapping into our staff to actually assist in the more complex project management. Subdivision design, engineering roles and the like. So I'd prefer to defer to Kim Rawlings to provide that up to them. Jessica Phillips 01:18:18.576
Okay, Thank you. I'll leave it for someone else to ask a question. Nicola Wilson 01:18:27.001
You mentioned the size of the capital works program on a dollar value and the level of resources that needs to support that. This might be more of a finance question, but have we got any analysis on what's the price variance and what's the volume variance in that kind of growing capital works program? It so is it growing to 30 or 50 million because the cost of works has increased, or because of the volume of the projects that are being taken. I think it's a bit of both, but do we actually have any figures behind that? Shaun Walsh 01:19:00.029
I can assist and supply of the 25, so that's a good heads up, thank you for that. But you're correct, it's a bit of both. You know, like for instance the Doonella Bridge upgrade was originally forecasted around 5 million and now it's exceeding 10 million. Or 9.8 million I think is the latest estimate. So there's an example of one project which is double its budget provision. But then we've also got lots and of projects which are small and unfortunately sometimes the smaller projects require just as much project management as a bigger project because of the complexities of dealing with the community and require just the amount of staff and resources to deliver something much more complex. So but um I can assist in providing that because we've got a capital works budget workshop with the councils next Friday so I can have a think about the way that information is presented. Thank you. Unidentified Speaker 01:19:55.864
At% counts of contribution. Karen Finzel 01:20:01.489
Thank you. Good question. Segway into the question I was going to put to the CEO. And it is probably more finance. It does get raised through our monthly reports back there. But just I guess from like a perspective of, you know, running the Council organisation. And maybe it's going to be addressed through the workshop. But what do you think is the, what do we need to be focusing on from the perspective of the business in terms to address, you know, these, the overruns, the carryovers, the cost credit coming? We've heard about the staff. Want we understand to say about retention and those things. I mean, what's, do you think is the, is it an overrun of all those things or is there something specific that we need to? Larry Sengstock 01:20:50.979
We're not on IR in this circumstance. Every Council and every business is actually running the same, issues that are in the construction world. I think we're still, carrying through the delay from COVID. We provide and the provider prices increased and everything caught everybody off guard. So we're still at the end of that. What we've done to try to alleviate some of that issue is that we're plan is now far more complex and detailed whereas before we used numbers that were sort of pretty general numbers and we thought we had enough of that in there or enough not living leeway in there but again you could call that when things escalate so quickly over that sort of four or five year period. So our planning now is far better, we're far more descriptive and prescriptive in what these projects as they come forward are, new initiatives, so we're very sure that we've got them and we're far more scrutinising in terms of do we need to do it as opposed to do we want to do it. I think that's something we've really challenged ourselves on so you'll see when we get to the capital works budget processes. Is here, we've done a hell of a lot in just trimming it right back to what we think but it's just volume and it's the expectation of the community to get things done but it's also we've got an obligation to because we've got over a billion dollars worth of assets that either need to be either upgraded, maintained or replaced and that's all part of the process that we need to continue to do so we've got an obligation every year to spend a certain amount of money just on renewals and that's a body of work in itself. Then there's the other pieces that are either urgent or last to do or things that we just think are the right things to be going for example there's something that yeah you say well it's getting to a point where the risk is now or the opportunity is there for the funding from the. There for funding the disaster management and the risk is now to a point where you say well we don't want to get caught out so let's do this work. So those sorts of things have to be done in fact. So it's very difficult. You'll see when we get to the budget on Friday that. You know, we start to go through the list and so there's not too much up there so it's not critical. It's not something we really want to do so that's the challenge we've got and everything is costable. More, so you add that bit at the top of our normal program, just so you can see the cost of doing business. So, in all this stuff, to answer your it's all myriad of things but I think in terms of what we're doing we're trying to be far better planned and appeared to more ensure that we don't get caught out with those escalation prices as we're doing the project, so we get the cost under eyes. And we've been very good at that. It's really good, given the environment that we're in. Shaun Walsh 01:24:04.082
And through the chat, one of the other key issues we're doing is that we're not seeking grant funding unless the grant funding is something we have to have. Or something we've already programmed so because there's a lot of grants that we sought that required co-contributions, which were nice to have, but then required us to co-contribute. So we've done a lot more discipline to ensure that, firstly, we've got the co-contributions. Already budgeted, so it doesn't require additional budget allocation, and it's consistent rather than thinking, "Oh, it's a grant for such and Let's go and do that, " which is putting us down in budget rabbit holes and the like. So disciplined in that regard. When we present the capital works program, we're actually presenting slides of the things we have pulled out as well, before we present it to Council. So you can see our appetite to try and reduce it to be a manageable program. Karen Finzel 01:24:55.815
Thank you, yeah, I know I was working in departure. Think it's, yeah, we're all very mindful of the challenges. You know, costing the expenses outwardly, you know, the internal decisions that we've got to make, and it's, you know, it's going to be really challenging. So, yeah, I'm encouraged that the staff is, you know, you've got your eyes over that, and we're looking forward to the. Workshops, and we know that we're heading into, you know, really challenging times. So, yeah, everything counts. Nicola Wilson 01:25:25.624
Absolutely. Looking forward to it. We've committed to so many different things, very different plans and strategies that the community is expecting to see delivered. As well as the repairs and. Karen Finzel 01:25:35.517
It yeah, I agree. I think that's a really good point because the community, you know, is looking to us, you know, to be engaged, to connect with them, to hear them, and then bring that to the table. So I think, you know, even though it's a challenge, I think it's also an opportunity work closely our community. You know, we're the middle ground, the councils in between, you know, we're the conduits. So I think, you know, we can all work together for those outcomes to show we're all listening and making the hard decisions. So thank you. Larry Sengstock 01:26:08.309
Yeah, we'll be under the umbrella from the beginning until we've started. We'll be able to buy our books and make sure we deliver them out because that's what the community wants to get them. Karen Finzel 01:26:16.405
Yeah, that's right. Exactly. Thank you. Any further questions? Frank Wilkie 01:26:22.649
Yeah, thanks. It was good to hear the question, really good questions and comments. In terms of fixing what's broken, this capital works program, the board focuses on council's traditional focus which is it is directed directly out of scene, and also the Council is also delivering, I think it's $130 million worth of repair works from the Queensland Reconstruction Authority. Manuscripts, and the biggest manuscript in the council's history, the central council's history. The Council is not necessarily delivering that, but it has an oversight over that. Could you just talk, so essentially we're running two capital works programs in parallel, could you just talk about councils while we're also delivering, or the oversight while it has been delivering this other very expensive program. Shaun Walsh 01:27:18.853
Yeah, so there's, originally there was 21 sites that required significant repair, so we're down to three, so 135 program, so we're ploughing our way through it. The governance arrangements of that program are slightly different to actually expedite the work. So funded by QRA we have a Disaster Reconstruction Coordinator who reports directly to me to actually oversee that. And we have consulting engineers and project managers working with us to deliver that program. So the works are packaged up in terms of design and then put out to tender. I don't want to understate the impost upon Council so that whilst the Disaster Reconstruction Coordinator and the external engineers and project managers are funded, you know, external to Council. It still requires oversights. That involves a lot of my time in terms of the governance of the program. It requires a lot of time with our communications people in terms of looking comments out about the different projects. And then also significant efforts by our procurement team because the procurement activities included the largest contract executed in the history of Noosa Council with immense interest, you know, across the market. So, you know, for 21 sites during major procurement activity. And also some of the exercises were high risk, such as the realignment of the water main supplying Noosa, so from the Kybong water intake at Mary River. And then when it comes to the asset finalisation and realisation, so all the assets actually come into our finance team and our assets team and need to be reconciled, and that's quite an arduous process, because even one reconstruction site can involve, you know, hundreds of different assets that actually need to be chronicled into our system. So that work is still going on, although it doesn't have the same profile as the internally funded program. And those components aren't funded by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, though they are paying the lion's share of the work, without a doubt. So that program is being delivered in parallel to this program. Frank Wilkie 01:29:15.867
So, just a comment that the team has had to absorb an enormous amount of additional work, and it's a very hard-working team, and congratulations on managing both those work hours. Yeah, thank you. That's something that, forgive me if it's been in there before, you mentioned that there's $1 million worth of master planning work underway, with a potential return on investment of $75 million. Could you just explain what that means and why you included that? For what I think is the first time in a report like this. Shaun Walsh 01:29:49.896
So we're in the throes of preparing a draft report to Council on the new civil enforcement infrastructure master plan, and as part of the notice of motion to that report we actually asked for more schematics on the value of the investment. It actually has the benchmarking of you know how much the plan has cost us and then what the overall value is. So that's how we're getting into the data. So the key point is that with the master plan it helps focus what your existing asset renewal program is. For instance, at Noosaville, we have far-linked event walls. So all along the riverfront. We have an asset renewal budget to actually replace those retaining walls. But the master plan gives us focus on how we do it as a student. So know, is it a beach nourishment program versus a constructed wall? Or if it's a constructed wall, you know, what's it made of? We know timber doesn't last the distance. We need to actually be more astute and longer term. And the New South Wales shore master plan references living seawalls, which actually provide really good habitat for, you know, sea and also resilience to ongoing erosion. Biota so the master plan gives us focus on how we astutely spend our own asset renewal costs. And then the thing that we're most interested in, or equally interested in, is that the master plan makes us very attractive to attract grant funding. Because when you put in an application for grant funding, the grant provider is really interested to see what level of endorsed master plan you have, which means it has a level of community endorsement. And as an example, on the Noosa or foreshore, even though the plan is in its draft stage and is well advanced, it's been successful in having matching the Changing Places facility, which is the disabled toilet facility. And the stakeholders are comfortable that the amount of work we've done on the master plan and the community feedback we've had to date, they're happy to support background funding so it doesn't come out of the Council fund. So we've recently also disaster submitted recovery funding round three for matching funding for the wall replacement. So we're actually using our existing renewal budget of $758,000, I think it was, to actually attract matching funding of another $758,000. So we can actually double our budget and our effectiveness without drawing upon the Council. Um so so the most so the master plan is basically efficient focus of our asset renewal works to make sure we know we're doing the right thing and then providing a gateway or an attractor to grant funding. Frank Wilkie 01:32:17.286
And I know noticed it's one of the consistently highest items in the capital works program is the Shire loan, Reseal Program and I noticed you're close to $35.1 million. Can you just talk about the importance of that? And also how we're tracking, are we going to receive that, will we be asking for additional funding, is that enough? Shaun Walsh 01:32:40.050
If you ask the road engineers, they say we probably need to spend about $77 million to get our roads up to a reasonable standard, which is a significant amount, and basically that investment level is to get the roads, you know, to maximise their life. And in a heavy patching or a resealing program, what it does is it protects the top layer of the road, you know, from further damage, because when the water gets below the road and into the subsurface, you end up with destruction of the and then you need to reconstruct the whole road. And that comes at a great expense. So by doing a more assertive proactive resealing program, which is just the DIN code on the top, we're extending the life of that map asset and also reducing long-term financial viability of Council. It's like maintaining, you know, a car. Maximise its life to try and prevent that. And we know that when roads get to a certain point, and Hilton Esplanade is an example of that, whereby the whole road has basically failed and needs major reconstruction, it more preferable to catch that road in time and do a heavy patching program or a resealing program to get a really good seal on the top of that road at an early stage. Frank Wilkie 01:33:48.595
Building back better. To sort of climb a group of roads. And infrastructure. Is talked about a lot. So how are we preparing to do that? There's external funding available. So Shaun Walsh 01:34:10.731
There's various programs that we can tap into. We try and take pretty astutely. Like for instance, we're called to nespela. That's identified as a primary cycle route for the Shire. You know, if you're riding from Tewantin to Noosa Heads or on a Peregian Beach. So we actually can tap into cycle street funding to actually help us reseal that road. So it's not just one program. There's lots of different programs. There's also a black spot program. Also you know community stimulus improvement works as well funded by the State and fed. So it's about trying to keep us tuned on every single program out there. I think the point is that most of this program does focus on maintaining our existing assets and trying to extend their life and reduce financial liability. I do note that none of road programs talk about improvement of existing roads that are unsealed or perhaps do not meet users' expectations. So it's about keeping what we've got, but there's very little in that program which improves areas or roads that aren't unsealed or on poor standards. So I just want to point out that distinguishment. Frank Wilkie 01:35:14.204
Thank you. Karen Finzel 01:35:16.339
Any further questions? I do think though, thank you for your time, you've been very good. I'm very much looking forward to the next report, but I think we do have to note we've got the one-lane opening on Friday the 5th of May at Black Mountain, so that is really, really a celebration. Do you want to give us a quick idea of where we're at with that? I think there was a door. Shaun Walsh 01:35:39.727
So, I'm very pleased to report that the final asphalt ceiling on the road surface of the Black Mountain landslide Frank Wilkie 01:35:48.155
Has been completed, or Shaun Walsh 01:35:51.378
Another term is that it's the largest recorded land depth, deep landslide in modern history in Queensland. Because of the depth, not the geographical area, the depth. It's so actually quite significant. So whilst there are some peripheral work still to be completed, such as guardrails and line marking and drainage works and the like, contractors are confident that they can allow single lane access to that site from Friday under traffic control or traffic light line management, there still may be some delays for temporary works up to 20 minutes, so that's you know a conservative estimate and that is still a lot faster than going the 45 minutes around the other way. I'll just note, Councillor, that we're keen not to promote this to the broader community as of yet. So I don't mention it in a live broadcast? No. Sorry, I wasn't aware of that. Yeah, but it is good news, worth notable, but we're just trying to minimise traffic disruption in that location because we don't want sightseers and we're wanting the community to not be disrupted by sightseers and we also want the construction crew to wrap the project up as soon as possible so the less traffic they're dealing with will make their job a lot easier. I just note that the residents on the other side of the landslide have been disrupted for over three years and I just note their patience because the detour track is very long and at times treacherous. Frank Wilkie 01:37:14.726
So we'll ask the community to respect the residents and allow them unrestricted access until Shaun Walsh 01:37:23.502
The official opening, until both lanes are open. So just to be clear as well that we can't arrange the waste delivery as of yet because both lanes will need to will need to be open. Those delays are unacceptable to the waste contractor at this moment but we'll continue to monitor that situation and we're still seeking clarity about the school bus arrangements of TransLink that is an agency outside Council and we're not too sure exactly what they'll do but we've made them fully aware of the one-way arrangement and we've also informed all emergency services as well. So that will make it easier. For them to access it. Karen Finzel 01:37:58.389
Good job, thank you. And my apologies if I didn't want our listeners to please be very respectful at the end of it. And just thank you to all the staff and the community that have worked together over a long period of time. Okay, any other questions, to, are we ready to? Would anyone like to move it? All right, I'll have a second, thank you. Nicola Wilson 01:38:21.541
Would like mind allowing me to speak? I think we've had plenty of discussion. You, Shaun. Great discussion, thank you, Shaun. Karen Finzel 01:38:27.398
Okay, we'll take it to the vote. All in favour? That is unanimous. Thank you. Shaun. And we're going to move on to item denoting by the committee, 8.2, Noosa River Recreational Boating Facilities - Update. Shaun Walsh 01:38:44.839
Thank you. Councillor. So this report provides an update on progress on recreational boating facilities in the Noosa River. 2022, Maritime Safety Queensland released the recreational boating facilities demand forecast in 2022. Council considered a very extensive report in June 2023 about which options it wanted to pursue or not. And in terms of the status report of the proposes proposals that Council wanted to pursue. Progress so limited has been made on defining scope at three facilities, including the Noosa Woods jetty at the end of Hastings Street or the park at the end of Hastings Street, scoping the approach to the Noosaville boat ramp and also starting, initiating a design process for the Hilton Esplanade to now leverage boat ramp which is currently an informal facility. In addition, I'm pleased to advise that Council has been advised that funding to the tune of 2.5 million is likely to be made available. Likely to be made available for MSQ for recreational boating facilities. We're still trying to determine the exact scope of that funding and exactly what we can use that funding for also, and the CEO has been in regular contact with MSQ to try and define that further. I'm happy to answer any further questions about the report. Karen Finzel 01:39:58.328
Yes, thank you, I do have a question. Just so that we can promote, you know, the community is very engaged on the river. We know that whenever that comes up, everyone's, you know, really engaged. So just to affirm our connection to our community and the value of what's going on here and supporting education, I just have a question. Asking you for those that, you know, don't know, that may be new to the area or they're not fully aware of it, to define the roles and responsibilities, including funding, infrastructure and regulation for each of the key stakeholders. Now, I know that's really complex. And you're going to summarise that, I hope. And thank you. I just think it's a great opportunity as we head into this for, you know, to get this online and then people can, you know, use this as a resource and get information about, you know, the work and how many stakeholders share. Rest of the room and the infrastructure. Shaun Walsh 01:41:04.534
Regard to public recreational boating infrastructure, Maritime Safety Queensland look after the over water components or fund the over water components if you think about a jetty over the water or a boat ramp that goes into the water. Maritime Safety Queensland have traditionally funded those facilities. When it comes to the shore which includes abatement walls, car parking, pathways connecting to those signs, then Council has traditionally been funded to those facilities. Once the facility is built or maintained, the facility gets handed over to Council to maintain on behalf of all the community. So it's a relationship between Maritime Safety Queensland. Council and the realisation of those assets. Now I just want to point out that relates to public facilities such as the niswil boat ramp and the like. Commercial facilities which are privately owned are a totally different kettle of fish and it really depends on the tenure and the relevant approvals they exist under. So that's in relation to infrastructure. I do note that Maritime Safety Queensland seem to have indicated that this time the 2.5 million might be made available for landslide facilities and that's a very, what's the word, promising information. From Maritime Safety Queensland because that's very non-traditional the way they've funded in the past. And if you look at the Maritime Safety Queensland recreational boating facilities website, they're very clear that they expect the landslide facilities to be funded by Council. And not funded by the State government. They expect it to be a partnership. So that's why we're nervously awaiting the confirmation of the funding from MSQ about what is the scope because a bit like that conversation we had in the previous matter about grant funding and you know investment of money and if Council has to co-invest funds to achieve upgraded boating facilities, it's currently not in our capital works program. So it's something that if Council sticks upgrading of our boating facilities a priority and the State government requires co-contribution, then that is a funding allocation that Council will need to make. Eagerly waiting to see what that outcome is. Now, I was just dealing with recreational boating facilities there. I just want to note that other issues such as mooring and anchoring, you know, fish habitat management, sustainable fishing management, is managed under a plethora of state government controls. Has no direct Council involvement in ongoing management actually on the river but obviously has a clear advocacy role to ensure the State government agencies are looking after the river on behalf of Council and the community. Karen Finzel 01:43:37.652
Thank you Shaun. Just on that, in the report there's also reference to TMR, can you just give us your Shaun Walsh 01:43:43.327
TMR fits into that? So Maritime Safety Queensland, thank you for that Councillor. Maritime Safety Queensland are an agency, Transport and Main Roads, so effectively are talking about Maritime Safety Queensland you are talking about the Department of Transport and Main Roads and they are responsible to that directorate and to that minister and their funding comes from that area. And if you think about it, boating is a form of transport. Karen Finzel 01:44:06.029
Thank you. That's not a fantastic. Jessica Phillips 01:44:13.451
Thank you, Shaun. Just in relation to the 2.5 million allocation from Queensland from MSQ, when do you think we will get a definitive because there is certainly information in community that feel they already have that clarity, so I guess I'm wanting to know a time frame from today when we will have some certainty. Shaun Walsh 01:44:36.002
Can I defer to the CEO? Has actually been in more active conversations with the Director of MSQ. Larry Sengstock 01:44:40.690
Yeah, so we've an email that basically confirms that the $2.5 million has been allocated, but in terms of what it's allocated for, we believe it's the inside, he believes it's the inside, but he thinks it's different to what MSQ would normally fund. He's getting clarification and then I'll probably be setting up a meeting for him and I to sit down and work out what that actually means. The risk is. Short saying for us is that the 2.5, what does that include? Even if it is an ancillary, does that include our project? If we identify a project, do we use that money for projects? Do we use that money for. Does that include project management or is that. Expected to come from Council contribution? Does it include other things? Is there a need to put any actual physical money into it? Which we don't know yet. So we're just being a little bit cautious, as is our excuse, Director, of those lines as well. Well, because it was a community election, so we just, you know, sort of just community election. All right, here we go. Make any more promises to the community. Jessica Phillips 01:46:13.413
Okay. In relation to continuing. Continually speaking about the funding then it wasn't.org community when will community be consulted in the allocation because it's my understanding they've always really indicated what they want that funds for. Larry Sengstock 01:46:39.929
We've had those conversations with them already to some degree but again until we get it finally confirmed then we can go back to the community and say okay here's money. How do we best spend this and get the best bang for the buck. That's what we're proposing to do. We've got this project because again it has been a large advocacy from the get this funding into the election committee. So we recognise that. We need to be the cognisant of that fact and handle it. Include them to say it oh up. We've got this money, what are we going to use it for. But I'm also conscious that again, that it's not just we're going to have a bucket of money over here for project management. You could say they could be there for 10% of that in project management to add to the 2.5. We're going to add have that just sitting there. Because it wasn't our decision in the first place. So we're hopeful that we'll be able to use that 2.5 million dollars as an overall package to deliver the project. Shaun Walsh 01:47:43.417
And Through the Chair, if I could actually just clarify that as per council's resolution in June 2023, item C, notes about Council seeking discussions about increasing funding from MSQ, TMR to fund and ensure components of program facilities. So Council staff have also been very active in this space seeking the funding. I appreciate the community, thankfully, also been incredibly active in that space as well. But I can assure you Council staff have also been very active. Yeah, every time we see the manager, he doesn't escape. That's what I'm thinking. Jessica Phillips 01:48:20.800
Um okay so so you for that um just in relation then when I start seeing other projects included in the report, nooswood's jetty, Gympie Terrace jetty. When did community. What was the consultant? Sorry. When did community. When were they consulted about these projects? Because I feel that we already know what they prioritised and so when we look back at the capital works program and we see the blood. Body of work I feel that they've already loudly said what they want prioritised and where they want the funds and so I guess I'm wanting some clarity around when we just start focusing on one particular project which is what the funds were intended for which is voting infrastructure. Shaun Walsh 01:49:19.010
So when MSQ released the report in 2022 it actually did a significant consultation program so that report was distributed fairly widely in the community and it was subject to quite significant conversation in the community as well. So when local communities approached Council we made it very clear they needed to put their submissions into MSQ to ensure they could finalise the study because most of the study is about over water components which is maritime safety Queensland's responsibility so this next stage we have no final answer on what the priorities should be. To we will need with Council to that money should be spent. So it could be on one project or it could be scattered across several. For instance we know from Noosa both from the Maritime Safety Queensland study and also the Noosa construction master plan, changes to pontoon in the Noosa program to allow more efficient loading and unloading of vessels would get much higher turnover in the program. So that might be a smaller value project which would give really good outcomes whereas other more comprehensive projects might years down the track. So I don't want to pre-empt what council's decisions will be. I think we need to find out what the $2.5 million focus is on. And then we'll need to actually, the same way when we present any project to Council for approval of the capital works budget, we'll need to come to you to actually seek endorsement. And then we can have a conversation about community engagement at that point. But again noting that depending on the terms of the funding, you know, do we have budget, you know, to actually do those sort of project processes? Nicola Wilson 01:50:59.587
Can I just refer to one of my help in this report Council voters, and that did actually specifically ask for news awards and everyone could be. So an update on all of these different programs that were in train. So there's the resolution from October 24 and the previous one from June 23. Did specify all of the things that were things that are in this report. My question and this is a report on everything so we will get more information on all of these different. Individual projects but just could we have a bit more information on the Noosa list, getty? What's the scope of the work that the consultants are working on? And then we're just looking at one. I'm doing a little ditty there, or the number of locations being considered. Shaun Walsh 01:51:54.663
So the initiation of the Noosa public getty comes from about three years ago so as a specific Council project. You know I've come more recently onto the scene and I to say that the scope even to myself isn't clear and there are a number of different stakeholders with differing expectations about whether it was an improved getty for public boating or whether it was an improved getty for commercial drop-off and pick-up or whether it was forecast in the future of public transport. For the first stage of the consultant's work is to actually look at all options and the pros and cons and the opportunities and constraints, like, as an example, to pursue a public transport getty requires significant disabled access, so if you think about the, you know, the ferry terminals in the Brisbane river, with all the, you know, variable ramps, there's a very good understanding of what you're in for, actually, to the facility of that, look. And also, discussions with carbon transport on Main Roads about the northern passengers transport study indicate that it's going to be a long way off until we get public transport on the Brisbane river. Some of the issues associated with commercials duties is that to run a full commercial duty they require tenure, which means private allocation of land, whereas all our public duties are on, you know, by grace of the State government and they don't require separate tenure. So, and then, you know, public recreational boating, one of the benefits we've got at Noosa Woods is that one location actually has de-draft, so boats with a good keel can actually draw alongside the public jetty, but ideally any with a floating pontoon that goes up and down with the tide, because it's very difficult to tie alongside the jetty at the moment and try and clamp her up. So the first stage of the consultant's work is to actually present all of this information to get a common understanding, and then come to Councillors to discuss. It further about what do you think we should be pursuing, and then consider the consultation program. So to date we've done some one-on engagement with the Hastings Street Association, the Noosa commercial marine aquaradies, David Steele of the Noosa River ferry, and also the Noosa Parks Association because they were fundamentally, you know. Behind the creation of Noosa Woods with the closure of the caravan park, so key stakeholders have helped inform some of the things, the complexes we need to look at. We're looking forward to giving the councils a further briefing next week, you know, treachery out on the project, but we're at the beginning of it, so all of the questions you raise about what we should do is actually what we're trying to figure out, because there's so many different expectations of how we should approach that genie and what it should be used for. I hope that answers it, so it's just at the beginning of the process. Got a arm, there's is a Chair. I've got desk. A Dean. I'll do the project manager now. Is there anything else you'd like to add to that, Dean? Dean 01:54:36.837
That is ongoing, that project. We will look at. There's three different sites that we're currently exhibiting in that project. So that's the Sofitel current arrangement, the Surf Life Saving Club had an original Chair at the end of the pilot, but yeah, so we've got further work to do and that's going to happen in the next couple of months and obviously from that we'll have some preferred options once we go through a multi-criteria process of assessing those sites and working with those stakeholders. Karen Finzel 01:55:16.421
That's interesting. Thank you. Jessica Phillips 01:55:18.561
Can I just have one more question? Just in relation to how projects like this get prioritised, like when I see certain ones that say no progress has been made advancing and then others start. Explain to me how that even starts? Like who prioritises when you start advancing and when it's stopped? Shaun Walsh 01:55:44.870
So two of the projects are coincidental, because the Noosaville Foreshore Infrastructure Master Plan was already forecast, and preparation work was already underway. So that's why we've managed to advance that, and that's the same with the Noosaville public jetty, so that there was already a budget allocation for that. So we're actually coincidental again that we're able to advance that. The third one, which is the denial of breach, Noosaville is really opportunistic. That through various discussions with the Noosa River Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which is no longer in operation, in councils at the time, there was perceived to be issues associated with that facility, both the appearance of it, some of the environmental issues associated with the erosion, its appearance when you come into Noosa, but then also the opportunity, because there's already a lot of people using it. We know, for instance, it's the only site where you can unload or load a large vessel on the Noosa River, so with the crane, and there's very few other sites available. So we forecast that there was an opportunity to do some design work, and we've put that into the forward planning and design. For next financial year. That list of projects is endorsed by CWE, or the Capital Works Executive, to ensure that it's worth to spend a bit of money to design that further to see whether it's pursuing as a capital works mission for the future year. Thank you. Thanks. So that's it done. But normally it would be through Council of prioritisation of capital works projects as part of the budget financial year process. Jessica Phillips 01:57:19.425
So to clarify then, will we re-see these projects in this budget round to say whether there's appetite for us to continue putting any resources to it or it becomes. Shaun Walsh 01:57:32.702
We can do it. Noosa's infrastructure master plan will be wrapping up. But you could, if you wish to, you can advance specific proposals in that if you wish to. You could terminate any further expenditure on the noosa's public jetty if you think that's appropriate is significant budget allocation that we haven't spent yet, which is wise because we wanted to make sure we're heading in the right direction, you could also reject further funding on the Doonella Bridge program. So they're good questions to raise through the budget process if you either support or don't support particular initiatives. Jessica Phillips 01:58:09.774
I have one, unless there's more questions, for the Chair. I'd like to refer this to the General Committee. Is there more questions? Is there please move to this corner. Karen Finzel 01:58:18.534
Yeah, sure. Further questions? I just would like to ask a quick one around the item number G with the council's proposing to initiate the parking study. Nicola Wilson 01:58:32.890
Will that also be depending on budget allocation, or have we already got budget there for that? Shaun Walsh 01:58:38.714
So, as councils are aware, we've had one workshop on the parking study, and there's one coming up, and one of those content you'll be seeing is actually the draft parking management plan for the Noosa River foreshore, which focuses on time restrictions, and it considers trailer and boat parking location, so for further Council consideration. So we've actually advanced that initiative as part of the June 23 initiative. Karen Finzel 01:59:06.807
Thank you. Alright, well thank you Shaun, you've done a good job at the day. Thank you for your patience. So we'll take it to the vote. That's correct. Are you alright? Councillor Phillips would like to leave that. I'm happy to second. All in favour? Thank you, that's unanimous. Thank you. We don't have any confidential session and then I declare the meeting closed at 3:33. Related Noosa Council Meetings
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