Mansfield Shire Council – Ordinary Meeting of Council: 26 June 2018

ATTACHMENT 12.1

Advisory and Special Committee Reports

Mansfield Shire Environment Advisory

Committee

(7 PAGES)

Meeting Date: Friday 27 April 2018 Chairperson: Cr Marg Attley File No. E4634

Time: 10.00am Location: Council Chambers

Invitees: Cr Marg Attley (Chair) Councillor, Dawn Bray Manager Development Services, Damien Gerrans Environment Officer, Kerstie Lee Up2Us Landcare Alliance Executive Officer, Tandy Annuscheit Gadhaba Local Indigenous Network Representative, Don Howie Victorian Farmers Federation Mansfield Branch, Louise Perrin Mt Buller & Mt Stirling Alpine Resort Managements Environmental Services Manager, Matt Mahoney Community Representative, Nicky Goudberg Community Representative, Robyn Rattray-Wood Community Representative, Rebecca Kirley Waste Management Officer, Lily Christopher Student Representative, Alicia Fox, Student Representative Max Sampson Student Representative, Ethan Lee Student Representative, James Gardiner Student Representative, Shubham Bajaj Student Engineer (guest)

Apologies:

ITEM SUBJECT BUSINESS RESP. OFFICER

1. GENERAL BUSINESS:

1.1 Opening of Meeting 10.10am Cr Attley

1.2 Attendance Cr Marg Attley, Dawn Bray, Damien Gerrans, Kerstie Lee, Don Howie, Louise Perrin, Matt Mahoney, Nicky Goudberg, Lily Christopher, Alicia Fox, Max Sampson, Ethan Lee, James Gardiner, Shubham Bajaj.

Cr Attley

1.3 Apologies Rebecca Kirley Cr Attley

1.4 Declaration of Interest None declared. Cr Attley

1.5 Minutes of Previous Meeting

EAC held on 16 February 2018. Minutes sent on 27 February 2018. Amendment by Kerstie:

1. Section 1.7 Discussion on Council Budget, Kerstie – Change text to: Up2Us ran a Soils and Veg workshop 2017 with feedback that composting workshops were of interest in 2018. Up2Us willing to collaborate with Mansfield Shire Council to co-host these this year

Motion: The minutes of the meeting are adopted with the amendment

Cr Attley

Mansfield Shire Environment Advisory Committee Minutes

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ITEM SUBJECT BUSINESS RESP. OFFICER documented above. Moved: Kerstie Seconded: Nicky All in favour

1.6 Business Arising from Previous Meeting

Action: DG to develop a media release on Roadside Weed Control Program. Not complete – All GIS data now received. Press release being drafted.

Damien Gerrans

1.7 Council Budget

Standing agenda item to raise Council budget issues. Local Government Energy Saver Program works unlikely to proceed next financial year. No additional allocation provided. Dawn Bray: The budget is available for public comment. Funding has been included to develop an Environment Strategy. The Waste Strategy will be reviewed at the same time. Community members are encouraged to put in a submission to the budget process. There is also an opportunity to present your submission to Council.

Cr Attley

1.8 Round table

A standing agenda item where each member of the Committee has the opportunity to discuss relevant matters with the Committee. Don: Farmers are waiting on rain. It’s not desperately needed yet. The long-term forecast is still for average rainfall in the area. There haven’t been any VFF meetings to provide feedback on lately. Lou:

All

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ITEM SUBJECT BUSINESS RESP. OFFICER It was a good summer on Mt Buller and Mt Stirling. Mountain Pygmy-possum numbers are increasing as a result of threatened species management. Weed control occurred over the summer period. Now getting ready for winter. Some baiting work occurs over winter. Over winter the environment staff works as Mt Stirling operations staff, including ski patrol. Lou provided a general overview of her team’s role to the EAC. Work includes:

- Pest control works primarily for cats and foxes; - Threatened species program; - Waste contracting and organic composting; - Track and trail management; - Licencing for tour operators across Mt Buller and Mt Stirling; - Issuing of dog permits on Mt Buller; and - Year round operation on Mt Stirling including Ski Patrol,

Ethan and James: Clean-up Australia Day event held at the Secondary College. A very successful event with all the students involved. Also good for raising awareness of litter at the school. Lou asked if the waste collected had been weighed as this is good for future comparisons. It wasn’t this time, but will look at this for the future. Kerstie asked about recycling bins at the school. This will be followed up with Rebecca. Lou also raised the option of the Secondary College being a ‘Resource Smart School’. This is a program run by Sustainability Victoria with resources to support schools. Kerstie:

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ITEM SUBJECT BUSINESS RESP. OFFICER Timbertop students worked with the Fords Creek Landcare group with works along Fords Creek in Mansfield on the 25 and 26 April 2018. The 4th Healthy Hectare workshop was held on Saturday 28 April 2018. The Landcare spray unit has been well utilised from December 2017 onwards. The unit is stored at the Council Depot with Council maintaining the unit. Landcare are looking a charging a daily rate for future use of the spray cart. An initial Community Energy meeting was held on 16 March 2018 at the Delatite Hotel. A follow-up meeting was held on 26 April 2018 in Council Chambers. A Community Forum is being proposed for August 2018. A letter has been sent to Cathy McGowan expressing interest in a Community Energy Advocate role for the region. Nicky: Sawmill Settlement has been inundated with deer which are a problem. Nicky made a submission into the Mansfield Shire housing strategy. We need a broader discussion about ‘Sustainable Communities’. Dawn: Mansfield Shire has received $40K from DELWP towards an Integrated Water Management Plan for the Mansfield township. The project will commence shortly. Shubham: Reviewed the actions that have been implemented under the current Environment Strategy. This is the first step in the review process. Drafted two Council briefing papers. One for the Electric Vehicle Feasibility Project and one for the Local Government Energy Saver Project.

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ITEM SUBJECT BUSINESS RESP. OFFICER Shubham has accepted the new role as an Engineering Quality Assurance Officer with Mansfield Shire. Matt: The Best Lamb, Best Wool group is next meeting in May. The priority of the group will be to increase lamb survival rates. Matt attended and presented at the Healthy Hectares workshop. It was a good workshop and Matt would have liked to see more people attending (about 12-16 people attended). John Gilson’s property was good to see.

1.9 Environment Update

A report for April 2018 is attached. Dawn added the Solar farms have been approaching the shire. 60ha are the minimum areas being looked at. This has implications for existing land use and native vegetation on the lots.

Damien Gerrans

1.10 Waste Update

Rebecca is an apology for the meeting. Dawn provided an update on the recycling program following the China import bans. Dawn is satisfied that Mansfield recycling won’t end up going to landfill. Lou: The north-east Victoria region is in a better position than other parts of Australia Kerstie: This is an opportunity for awareness raising on recycling when the supermarkets are supposed to be going plastic bag free.

Rebecca Kirley

2. NEW BUSINESS:

2.1 New Council business Dawn:

Dawn Bray

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ITEM SUBJECT BUSINESS RESP. OFFICER The role of advisory committees in Mansfield Shire was reviewed by Council. The Mansfield Shire Advisory Committee 2017 policy was presented to the group. A copy of the policy is attached with the minutes. As an outcome of this policy, any recommendations raised by the Environment Advisory Committee to Council will require an Officer report that will be developed and approved through existing internal departmental procedures.

2.2

Council Plan annual review The Council Plan is currently open for public comment. Public comment is encouraged.

Dawn Bray

2.3

Local Government Energy Saver Program – Greenhouse Reduction Plan and Inventory – See attached document. Shubham presented the key actions in the report. There is currently funding available to implement Stage 2 (business case development) of the Local Government Energy Saver Program. In Stage 3 of the Local Government Energy Saver Program, Sustainability Victoria will co-fund on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to $100,000 towards building energy efficiency upgrades. A briefing spot to present this to Council is being sought.

Damien

3. NEXT MEETING:

3.1 Next Meeting

Friday 29 June 2018,10 am -12 midday Apologies: Nicky and Max are unable to attend the next meeting. Friday 31 August 2018, 10 am -12 midday

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ITEM SUBJECT BUSINESS RESP. OFFICER Friday 26 October 2018, 10 am -12 midday Friday 7 December 2018, 10 am -12 midday

3.2 Meeting Close 11.50am

Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes

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