A Noosa Council majority voted to continue funding the Noosa River Oyster Ecosystem Restoration Project at its General Meeting on Tuesday.
It followed an emotional debate by councillors on the benefits and risks of continuing its agreement with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to deliver the project.
Councillors were divided in their opinion from those calling for an end to funding, greater transparency, value for money and community consultation, to others looking toward the potential benefits of restoring a marine ecosystem.
With the project delayed 18 months awaiting State Government permits, Mayor Clare Stewart described the project as a risk and proposed Council’s quarantined funding for it of $750,000 would be better spent on environmental projects that were certain to be delivered, but her proposal was rejected.
“We’re risking Council money on a project that could clearly fail,“ she said.
“It’s not in the best interests of ratepayers. It hasn’t achieved what it set out to do. There is so much more that can be done right here, right now.“
Deputy Mayor Frank Wilkie said Council should do what they could with evidence-based, science-backed research to make the right decision and save the ecosystem.
He said the project had brought together three levels of government, an international conservation organisation, universities, philanthropists and First Nations people.
“There’s no valid reason to disrespect this relationship and not follow through,“ he said.
TNC received $1.2 million from The Thomas Foundation for the project and attracted $1.2 million from the federal government.
Noosa Council’s contribution of $1.2 million is small compared to the infrastructure to result, he said.
Councillors received verbal notification at the meeting that the state government had provided conditional permits to proceed with Noosa River oyster reefs, with TNC happy with the conditions, and were told Noosa may suffer reputational loss, potentially reducing its attractiveness for future investment in environmental outcomes if they refused to progress with the project.
Cr Amelia Lorentson said all councillors had received submissions from eight Noosa associations opposed to a continuing agreement.
“The community is split in their support of this project. That is reason not to proceed. It does not have full community support,“ she said.
Cr Brian Stockwell said all ecosystem restorations were risky but this had 20 years of science behind it. He put the delays down to bureaucratic processes and said to not proceed would be risking the chance for future generations to catch a fish in the river.
As the debate became heated, Cr Stewart said she was offended at implications people without ecosystem experience didn’t deserve a say in the project, or suggestions she wasn’t concerned about the environment.
She said councillors needed to be diligent in spending ratepayer money and voicing opinions was a democratic right.
Cr Lorentson called for council to engage the community in consultation to gauge the level of interest in the project but this proposal failed to win the majority vote.
After hours of debate, a majority voted to authorise the chief executive officer to commence negotiations with TNC regarding the Alliance and Funding Agreement and report back to Council for approval on the outcomes.
Motions put forward by councillors Stewart and Karen Finzel to review the project’s procurement and administrative processes, project risks and mitigation and incorporate these into key performance indicators were carried.
Council’s chief executive officer said it was prudent for Council to have any additional elements included in the negotiation process.
A final decision on the project will be made at Council’s Ordinary Meeting on Thursday evening.
