FNQROC Update - February 2014
By: Darlene Irvine, Executive Officer...
Welcome back to a brand new year full of change, momentum, excitement and trepidation!
In FNQROC we have taken the opportunity while many Council staff take leave to prepare for our year ahead. While we have been doing this, we have also been working behind the scenes on existing projects and collaborative advocacy with FNQ&TS RDA, Advance Cairns, Terrain NRM and WTMA. The Coordinators will all update you on their activities.
On Tuesday 28 January, Amanda Hancock commenced with FNQROC as the new Regional Procurement Coordinator and Steven Cosatto takes over the role as Regional Infrastructure Project Coordinator (Regional Road & Transport, Asset Management, Waste Recycling and Regional Development Manual). Over the next few months the transition will occur and hopefully it will be seamless process. View the FNQROC Organisational Chart for more information.
New member Councils
A very warm welcome to Douglas Shire Council and Mareeba Shire Council, and the elected Mayors Julia Leu and Tom Gilmore. We look forward to working with them and the relevant Council staff.
Northern Australia White Paper
On 19 December 2013 Allan Dale, Sonja Johnson (RDA) and I met with David Williamson (First Assistant Secretary) and Ben Dal Brio (Advisor) on the Northern Australia Taskforce. They briefed us on the process and sought some initial feedback on some of the issues to be addressed. It was really heartening to hear them comment on the amount of collaboration they were seeing in this region.
As a summary, the areas raised with case studies included:
• Land Tenure – fundamentally, we need to fix this issue once and for all. This was identified as an impediment to Indigenous economic development.
• EPBC – turnover of staff (Federally) having an impact on large scale development.
• Energy – from two fronts:
o The need for locally supplied energy:
* Commercial – business pays 100% of the cost which is significantly higher than those areas closer to the supply point. This region sees 50% transmission loss before it gets here which businesses need to pay for. We need to secure local supply.
* Residential – currently the State Government subsidises the cost of the transmission loss for residential properties. This is in the order of $750 million per year. This is not sustainable.
o Australian Energy Regulator – lack of consistency between the States in terms of cost and operational ability. This then links to the cost of energy and our ability to do things such as use LED's where Ergon Energy maintains the asset.
• Water security (storage) – the need to revisit additional dams.
• Integrated transport links – road, rail, sea and air.
• Road links:
o Bruce Highway
o Peninsula Developmental Road
o Cairns to Melbourne
o Cairns to Western Australia via Alice Springs
o Cairns to Darwin
• Biosecurity – from three fronts:
o Lack of long term vision/investment. Examples of programs are for Siam, Hymenachne, Yellow Crazy Ant etc.
o Lack of long term strategic vision and investment. As an example – ad hoc programs for short periods of time with little or no linkage to regionally determined strategic areas.
o Contestability of funding. The focus back to contestability has deteriorated the collaborative effort in this region which was supported by the old NHT program. We are now competing against each other and others from across the nation instead of other regions. This has resulted in significant funding being granted to areas which are not strategic and to organisations which are untested. Some discussion regarding a similar process to Regional Road Groups also was held.
• NDRRA – policy/guideline issues
• Location of Federal agencies out of Canberra into Northern Australia.
And, as a very last one liner as we were walking out the door – Mountain Biking!
A number of regional organisations will meet on 30 January to develop a collective submission signed off by all of us. Invitations to this meeting went to: FNQROC, FNQ&TS RDA, Advance Cairns, Gulf Suvannah Development, Terrain, RRRC, Cairns Chamber of Commerce and Cape York Sustainable Futures. The results of this meeting will be presented to the FNQROC Board (if not before via email).
Energy
While linked to the Northern Australia White Paper, there are a number of consultations occurring at both a Federal and State level in this arena.
On 15 January, Cummings Economics coordinated a meeting with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) (attendees were from the various regional organisations, Cairns and Mareeba Chambers, canegrowers etc). FNQROC funded the video conference and TAFE provided the facilities (thank you very much to Bill and Jennifer (Cummings) and TAFE!). This meeting was extremely beneficial for both this region and AER.
AER is currently seeking submissions on Phase One (preliminary framework and approach) for the Queensland electricity reset – distribution determination 2015-2020 (note: this is separate to the transmission determination which will commence in a year or two. The distribution costs are typically 50% of electricity costs. The focus of the preliminary framework and approach needs to be around the classification of the distribution services to be regulated and any gaps. Throughout the process there will be a number of opportunities to engage and provide input. Interesting to note, AER has developed consumer engagement guidelines and while they are not mandatory Ergon Energy are required to show how it engages with consumers. AER is interested in issues which Ergon Energy has not addressed in its submissions.
In terms of submissions, FNQROC will submit one focussed on street lighting. We also will work with FNQ&TS RDA and Advance Cairns on a submission focussed on those areas not related to street lighting.
If you love energy and can understand how it all breaks up, we would love to hear from you... There are a number of other energy initiatives with submissions also due in February and these include (thanks to FNQ&TS RDA):
• Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) – Retail Electricity Price Regulation in Regional Queensland – issues paper (due 28 February 2014)
• Department of Industry – Energy White Paper – Issues Paper (due 7 February)
Roads
On 4 December I represented the region at a forum coordinated by the Regional Development Australia Committees of Townsville and North West, FNQ&TS, Fitzroy and Central West, Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday and Darling Downs and South West. The focus was on our inland road routes and identifying if there are opportunities for common priorities, joint advocacy, and strategic collaboration. Not surprisingly, there were some common priority links (Cairns to Melbourne/Sydney, Cairns to WA via Alice Springs and Cairns to Darwin). Within our FNQ RRTG boundaries the Hann Highway is our missing link.
As a result of this forum an interim working group was developed with representatives from each RDA area. A copy of the Terms of Reference for the interim working group can be found here. RDA Townsville and NW will provide the secretariat.
Members of the Interim working group include:
- Cr Rick Britton, Mayor of Boulia Shire Council
- Cr Peter Maguire, Mayor of Central Highlands Regional Council
- Cr Butch Lenton, Mayor of Winton Shire Council
- Dave Burges, CEO of Quilpie Shire Council
- Ian Groves, AgForce, and
- Myself
Queensland Water Regional Alliance Program (QWRAP)
In early 2013, FNQROC engaged AEC Group Ltd to undertake a review of our urban water services to identify alternative mechanisms to manage our urban water supplies. Queensland had been identified in three Federal reviews as needing some water reform. As a result, the Department of Natural Resources and Water (DNR&W) provided some funding to the Water Directorate and LGAQ to investigate three pilot regions. This initial review is almost complete with a final draft and presentation to the FNQROC Board on 10 February. The Technical Committee will provide some firm recommendations for the Board to consider going forward.
Regional Development Manual Review
I have commenced the process to review the Regional Development Manual. While I collect submissions at any time throughout the year, if they are to be included in Issue 6 I will need them by 28 February 2014.
FNQROC Board meeting
The next FNQROC Board meeting will be held on Monday 10 February and it will be full of discussion which will include QWRAP and the Northern Australia White Paper.
2014 Regional Organisation Meeting Dates
And finally, for those that are interested, view the Board meeting dates for FNQROC, Advance Cairns, Terrain NRM and FNQ&TS RDA. We have endeavoured to ensure these meeting dates did not clash.
Regional Projects - February 2014
By: Regional Projects Coordinator, Daniela Gambotto...
Street Lighting and Sustainability
As mentioned in Darlene's report, we attended a meeting with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) this month along with other key FNQ stakeholders.
My key area of focus is obviously street lighting and fortunately we were able to touch on this in the meeting. However, given the complexity of the issue (which was duly noted by the AER Director!) and not wanting to dominate the broader energy issue with street lighting, we will be taking it up separately with the AER. Some of the key issues to be raised include:
• FNQ Local Governments are seeking greater consistency between State and Federal regulations to facilitate retrofit programs for more energy efficient street lighting. The system works better in some States than others – a nationally consistent approach is strongly supported in this regard.
• Establishment of a Service Level Agreement between energy providers and customers – is this something AER supports?
• How can AER facilitate the adoption of emerging technologies without being restricted by the 5 year regulatory period? Particularly for Ergon customers who are not likely to be able to adopt a negotiated pricing classification (which would facilitate faster uptake of new lighting technologies)
• What are the benefits of a negotiated service classification for street lighting.
Meanwhile, the Service Level Agreement which we have been pushing for with Ergon Energy is still being prepared. We are unlikely to see a draft of this until the end of January or early February. And Ergon Retail, the other branch of our energy service provider, is currently crunching the numbers for the top energy use buildings in the Cassowary Coast, Tablelands and Hinchinbrook Council areas. This tariff review will hopefully provide some relief on Council's energy bills over the coming months.
The sustainability group, along with representatives from DTMR, will be catching up with our Ergon Energy contacts in mid-February to hopefully discuss all the above and any other matters that are of relevance to local government. Given the amount of activity in the Energy sector this year (as outlined in Darlene's earlier summary) it's likely that we'll be doing a lot of talking with Ergon in 2014!
Regional Events
The Best Practice Guidelines I have mentioned previously have been finalised and distributed to the Regional Events Group. Once that group has signed off on the draft, I will finalise it for adoption at the April FNQROC Board meeting.
Fostering Sustainable Behaviour Workshop with Dr Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Townsville, February 24 - 25
And a little plug for those interested in encouraging behavioural change through community based social marketing...
The two-day introductory workshop provides a comprehensive introduction to community-based social marketing and how it is being applied throughout the world to foster sustainable behaviours. Those who attend the workshop will learn the five steps of community-based social marketing (selecting behaviours, identifying barriers, developing strategies, conducting pilots, and broad scale implementation) and be exposed to numerous case studies illustrating its use.
This workshop will be of interest to those working to address water efficiency, waste reduction, invasive species, energy efficiency, conservation, modal transportation changes, catchment protection, and other sustainable behaviour changes. Those who work to promote behavioural changes that promote health will also benefit from attending. https://register.cbsm.com/workshops/townsville-queensland-2014.
Regional Infrastructure Projects Update - February 2014
Happy new year to everyone. Naturally the past month has been reasonably quiet with the annual Christmas break and festive period. 2014 brings a warm and windy welcome for Douglas and Mareeba to the FNQRRTG. This brings the total number of Councils comprising FNQRRTG to nine – eight months ago it was five!.
The Technical Committee was scheduled to meet on Friday 31 January in Atherton however the imminent cyclone decided to make its presence felt in the region and the meeting was postponed. The date for this rescheduled is still to be fixed.
In this month's newsletter below I discuss the Works Program, LRRS network changes, Royalties to the Region Round 3, National Heavy Vehicle Law and Regulator, Fatigue Management, Road and Rail Crossing Interface Agreements, Federal Government's Bridges to Renewal Program, Traffic Count Data for LRRS, QRA attendance at RRTG Board meeting, below.
Read MoreRegional Procurement - February 2014
By: Regional Procurement Coordinator, Steven Cosatto...
Procurement
As Darlene mentioned above my current role of Regional Procurement Coordinator will be taken over by Amanda Hancock who started with FNQROC on Tuesday 28 January. I will be moving into the role of Regional Infrastructure Project Coordinator (Regional Roads & Transport, Asset Management, Regional Development Manual and Recycled Waste). I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Amanda to the role and thank everyone who assisted me in establishing the regional procurement framework.
Recent amendments to legislation
On 6 December 2013, Queensland Parliament adopted the Local Government Amendment Regulation (No. 4) 2013 ("Amendment Regulation"), which amended the Local Government Regulation 2012 ("LG Reg") and City of Brisbane Regulation 2012.
The most significant change introduced by the Amendment Regulation is to the definition of a medium-sized and large-sized contractual arrangements in s. 224 of the LG Reg. These changes came into effect on 1 January 2014.
To assist council officers understanding these amendments Eleanor Scott from MacDonnells Law has accepted our invitation to speak at our first regional procurement meeting for the year on 14 February. Read an extract from MacDonnells Legal Alert #1 2014 for further information.
Date claimers for 2014
Regional procurement meetings:
• 28 February
• 30 May
• 29 August
• 28 November
Current Projects
We have now finalised mid contract/project reviews of all collective arrangements, with suppliers and arrangements meeting or exceeding requirements. The benefit of these reviews is to not only provide feedback to current suppliers and Councils, they have also identified positives and opportunities for improvement for projects currently being developed.
Regional Register for Pre-qualified Suppliers (ROPS) for road construction and maintenance services
I am pleased to advise that member Councils that have utilised the ROPS have commented they have received significant savings in both time and money. The development and use of regional registers for suppliers, contractors etc and a collective utilisation of existing registers (ie. Local Buy) are areas which I have identified where we can do more.
Regional Natural Asset Management - February 2014
By: Natural Asset Management Coordinator, Travis Sydes...
It has been a busy to start to 2014 with a range of projects coming to a close and a raft of material out for consultation (what better way to start the year than reviewing legislation and wading through strategic assessments?).
On the submissions front the Queensland Governments Biosecurity Bill was out for the duration of the Christmas break (nice timing, please tell me that was a coincidence). The Bill will supersede the Land Protection Act and other legislation pertaining to the management of weeds, pests, pathogens and diseases of agriculture and the environment. Given the cramped timeline and the fact that most of our hardworking NAMAC were still on a well-deserved break we provided comment to inform LGAQ's submission rather than solo author our own. The Bill is going to parliament again on February 6 so we will wait and see how comments have been addressed. More on this topic when we receive word back.
The Great Barrier Reef Strategic Assessment has been keeping many souls busy around the region and up and down the coast as they grapple with this two part behemoth. The Commonwealth has authored the first component focusing on the marine aspect of the assessment whilst the State has delivered a coastal zone (terrestrial) component. FNQROC is providing comment aspects on the Coastal Zone Strategic Assessment to several submissions on the table. If you have time to complete a quick survey prior to Friday then head to http://www.reefhaveyoursay.com.au/.
On the project front our collaborative work with Terrain NRM identifying Strategic Offset Investment Corridors for the Wet Tropics Bioregion has come to close with the final draft off to the State this week. There are still many questions and uncertainties to be addressed in regard to how this will relate Local Government particularly with regard to the pending revised offset policy and planning schemes. More on this in the coming months as the implications become clearer. An important outcome of the SOIC project is we have used the opportunity of analysing a plethora of spatial data to launch directly into the review of the Wet Tropics NRM Plan and the Water Quality Improvement Plan. These plans will guide NRM investment in the region over the coming years and we are looking forward to a more integrated approach to regional planning as a result of Local Government being involved in the process.
For more information or to keep abreast of new developments and forums in this space join our mailing list to recive meeting notifications go to the regions very own resource at the Far North Queensland Pest Advisory Forum Website www.fnqpaf.com.au.
All Group Meeting Dates
FNQROC Board meetings and technical committee meeting dates are listed below.
Read MoreAll in the Line of Duty - February 2014
