With Noosa Council’s vote on the adoption of the Noosa River Catchment Management Plan now stalled until the middle of next year, Councillor Brian Stockwell is proposing that Noosa Council speeds up its agreed strategy on improving the health of our vital Noosa River system.
Cr Stockwell has formally given notice of a motion to be put to Thursday’s (14 December) Ordinary Meeting that seeks to accelerate action towards achieving the Noosa Environment Strategy goal signed off in 2019 that “by 2030 waterways, wetlands and coasts are healthy, resilient to change and valued by the community”.
“This motion is about as straightforward as it gets”, he said. “I’m asking Council to focus a bit harder on precisely what we’ve all agreed to do – and that’s protect our river and waterways and coast for the clear benefit of us all. Doing this is about as close as it gets to a no-brainer.”
The Stockwell motion prioritises available relevant staff time and existing budgets on
• protecting aquatic and riparian flora and fauna and their habitats,
• rehabilitating degraded wetland and waterway and fish habitats, stream-banks and riparian buffers as part of any development or activities undertaken in, or adjacent to, the river system or on tidal lands;
• improving the water quality of the Noosa River system through effective management of sediments and other direct and indirect sources of pollution; and
• regular monitoring, compliance and evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions.
The motion requests the CEO to “pursue new funding and grant opportunities to extend the Oyster Reef Restoration and Oyster Gardening Programs into other suitable locations in the Noosa River and Lakes system, considering the early successes of this program.”
And finally it calls for collaboration with the Kabi Kabi people to develop and implement a Land and Sea Ranger – or similar – program that educates others on how to respect and avoid harm to the indigenous, historical, environmental and conservation cultural heritage of the Noosa River system.
The health of the Noosa River and Lakes System continues to be impacted by the long-term impacts of historic over-clearing and over-fishing and is under increasing pressure from:
• climate change resulting in prolonged dry periods followed by extreme flood events;
• continued regional population growth leading to increased utilisation or river resources; and
• the direct and indirect downstream impacts of land uses.
Cr Stockwell said that while committed Council staff and the huge number of dedicated volunteers and project officers in our community-based environment and natural resource management groups are doing great work with the resources currently available to them, the status quo is not enough to achieve the 2030 targets.
