Darlene Irvine, Executive Officer...

Ever get the feeling you have been really busy but don't feel like you have achieved much?  We are currently shuffling the decks a little internally and externally with the vision of being able to mitigate some internal risk and broaden our support for Councils.

Vacancies in FNQROC – Shuffling the Deck

As advised in the last newsletter, Scott Britton has left us and we advertised the position of Regional Infrastructure Project Coordinator.  After further thought and discussion we have decided to move Steven Cosatto into this position and recruit another Regional Procurement Coordinator so we have some redundancy in the procurement realm which is proving more and more beneficial for Councils.  Applications for this position have closed and we have shortlisted these for an interview.  Over the next six months we will learn and train each other.  Multiskilling across FNQROC portfolios allows us all to support the technical working groups to continue the great work of Councils collectively.

Urban Water Quality Management Project – Reef Rescue Funding

For some time now, FNQROC and Terrain NRM have been representing the region on the Reef Urban Stormwater Management Group (RUSMIG). Members of this group include Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns (via FNQROC and Terrain NRM).  While we all have similar and differing priorities there has been a lack of focus (until now) on urban water quality management particularly for the tropical areas.  For my part, I am keen to see a focus on Water Sensitive Urban Design Guidelines suitable for this region (note for engineers; in SEQ there is now a "Save the Swale" push).  This group, mainly through the efforts of Chris Manning at Townsville City Council, has managed to attract $850,000 through Healthy Waterways for this project.  FNQROC and Terrain hosted the first workshop for this project in Cairns last month.  A more defined scope and brief is being developed by Healthy Waterways and this will be forwarded to all Councils to garner their involvement.

Any Council officers keen to be an active participant in this group and project should let me know.

NAMS Plus 2 Training

The Roads Alliance Board awarded us 50% funding for IPWEA NAMS Plus 2 training which was held in Cairns last week.  This training normally only occurs in the major cities, which due to total costs, prohibits attendance by many FNQ Council officers.  The training was timely for many Councils as Asset Management becomes more of a focus (particularly with the Queensland Audit Office), and with the pending introduction of ISO55000 in April 2014.  The training was well received by all who attended, and is reported on in more detail in Steven Cosatto's section below.

Researcher Partnerships

I had the surprise pleasure of presenting at the USQ Local Government Research Collaboration Symposium in Brisbane last month.  Half way through this day I had to change the tone of my presentation as the partnership work which is occurring across South East Queensland and Local Governments at a National Level is quite surprising.  While there is still the issue of peer uptake versus practitioner uptake, there are examples of this occurring.  As a result, I have provided some of our strategic priorities to Ben Menadue, Research Business Manager at JCU, to see if there are any areas in which we may be able to collaborate.

NQ Local Government Association 

I was also asked to present at the NQ LGA meeting in Cooktown.  Again, this is something I would not normally have attended but I was surprised by the opportunities it presented for FNQROC.  My presentation theme was on the benefits FNQROC has achieved together with the secrets of our success (aka dealing with frustrations).  Of particular benefit was that the Minister for Local Government and the local State Member were in attendance and hopefully are now fully aware of the hurdles Councils need to go through to achieve great results.  (I am also hopeful this will aid in both our funding applications submitted recently for Improving Financial Management and Sustainability).  What was even more enjoyable was spending some time with Councillors I don't see very often.

Tidy Towns Awards - Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council

I was thrilled to learn Wujal Wujal was awarded the Environmental Protection category at this year's Tidy Towns awards.   The judges said "the Wujal Wujal Bush Foods Revegetation Project and the Bloomfield Valley Horse Management Plan are outstanding programs which brought together social, economic and environmental outcomes".  The Horse Management Plan was facilitated by FNQROC Regional Natural Asset Management Coordinator Travis Sydes and successfully addressed the feral horse problem in the valley.  Well done to all.

All the Coordinators have also been quite busy and I will leave it up to them to update you on their past and future activities.

By: Regional Procurement Coordinator, Steven Cosatto...

FNQROC Procurement Meeting 25 October 2013

The quarterly Regional Procurement Meeting was held at Cairns Regional Council chambers which included a presentation by Ian Barton of Jardine Lloyd Thompson.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ian as his presentation was so well received by the group that he was delayed an additional hour post presentation, addressing our queries.

Ian's presentation covered: 

• Local Government Mutual Liability (LGM) Indemnities Guide and insurance clauses;

• An introduction to the LGM Indemnities Guide 2012 and the LGM Professional Indemnity Guide 2013;

• Professional Indemnity Guide and the Brisbane City Council tool for determining required Professional Indemnity sums insured;

• Principal controlled insurance;

• Consequential loss - what does it mean?

• Employment practices cover, eg. for such things as discrimination, harassment etc., as part of LGM cover; and,

• Labour hire issues.

Bitumen Reseals

I was pleased to be invited to make a presentation at the annual LGAQ Regional Roads and Transport Group Assembly regarding the FNQRRTG's recent reseals collective arrangement.  It was pleasing to hear from other Councils about the admiration for the level of cooperation and maturity displayed by the FNQ group.

FNQROC Asset Management Meeting 16 October 2013

FNQROC arranged for the Northern Director of the Queensland Audit Office (QAO), Brendan Macrae, to give a presentation on the future direction of the QAO with regards to its performance audits of public sector entities.  A simplified description is that a financial audit measures what has been spent, whereas a performance audit evaluates how well the money was spent.  Brendan said a performance audit would take between four and six months to complete and the QAO has eight performance audits planned for the 2014/2015 financial year. 

Asset Management Training

The Far North Queensland Regional Roads and Transport Group (FNQRRTG) facilitated a National Asset Management Strategy Plus (NAMS Plus) training course in Cairns on 29-31 October.  

By: Regional Infrastructure Projects Coordinator (acting), Gerard Read...

October was a significant month for the FNQ Regional Roads & Transport Group (FNQRRTG), Roads & Transport Alliance (RTA), public works engineering and for Local Government in general.  In fact it was busier than a one armed bricklayer in downtown Beirut!  The RTA Technical Forum was held in Cairns on Tuesday 8 October as a lead in to the IPWEAQ State Conference on 9-11 October.  The RTA Assembly was also held in Cairns on Thursday 24 October as part of the LGAQ State Conference on 22-5 October.  The FNQRRTG had its bimonthly meeting on Monday 14 October in Cairns.

By: Regional Projects Coordinator, Daniela Gambotto...

Street Lighting and Sustainability

October proved to be an active month on the street lighting front...

Earlier in the month FNQROC member Councils and DTMR met with key staff from the metering area of Ergon Energy and Ergon Retail.  Ergon staff were very generous with their time and provided a comprehensive overview of the current street lighting situation.  This included:

• the results of the recently completed state-wide audit and new web-based 'LightMap' tool for management of street light assets,
• an explanation of current maintenance programs in relation to street lighting,
• regulated cost recovery – namely tariff 71 and the Alternative Control Service Charge, and,
• a new Service Level Agreement between Ergon Energy and its street lighting customers (ie. us!)

Of course we were most pleased with the final point of the meeting that will finally address the service level issue we have been discussing for some months now.  Ergon Energy has indicated it is very keen to receive our input into the development of an SLA.  The good news is the Australian Energy Regulator is requiring the SLA be prepared and finalised by March 2014.  This doesn't give us a lot of time to get organised, however, a short time frame is a good time frame in my mind – the 10% pass through of ACS charges is due to commence in July 2014 and we don't want to wait any longer than we have to for this important contractual arrangement to be put in place.

I have since caught up with key staff from all Councils to discuss what aspects need to be covered in the SLA and we have drafted some initial points for Ergon Energy to consider.  Given the lines of communication are now open, I anticipate we will continue to engage with Ergon Energy staff over coming months as the SLA evolves into a living document.

We also have received positive replies from both Ergon Energy executives and both the Minister for Local Government and the Minister for Energy & Water Supply to our correspondence from last month.  I am confident we have put our issues on the agenda and will continue to gather support as we move through the process of setting up the SLA and advancing our initiative to move towards more energy efficient street lighting.

Regional Events

A report was put to the October FNQROC Board Meeting recommending the insertion of a clause into all Councils Community Grants Policies which would facilitate a regional response to sponsorship requests for cross regional events.  The new clause calls for the FNQROC Regional Events Strategy Group to evaluate the sponsorship request and provide advice to host Councils.  There also is a provision within this amendment to support single contractual arrangements between councils and event organisers.  Both of these provisions will only apply to events which cross more than two Local Government area boundaries.

In the coming month I will continue to investigate a best practice guideline for regional events by referring to some of the more experienced event organisers and liaising with other key stakeholders.

By: Natural Asset Management Coordinator, Travis Sydes...

It has been a rather busy month with many external and internal projects ramping up as they either begin or come to a close.  In the pest management planning space the Hinchinbrook and Cairns Local Area Pest Management Plans have been accepted by the State Government. Tablelands has been released for public consultation and I'm happy to report Cassowary Coast is not far behind.

On the weed front we have seen several new outbreaks of previously unrecorded species in the Southern Tablelands. Because of its high altitude and cooler climate this part of our region is susceptible to a broad range of tropical to sub-tropical weeds.  I will write more on these outbreaks next month.

The Invasive Plants and Animals Co-investment Model (LGAQ/DAFF) is progressing well with a meeting of the think tank convening last week to compile the responses from the consultation discussed in last month's newsletter. A response will be compiled for circulation shortly.

Terrain NRM and FNQROC convened with Local Governments and other stakeholders to review the regionally generated preliminary draft of Strategic Offset Investment Corridors (SOIC).  This State-commissioned project aims to determine suitable areas for biodiversity offsets underway in select bioregions across the State Government.  The primary questions for Local Government in this space are understanding the intended end use of the mapping output and how it relates to the QPP and associated offsets policy.  We will keep you informed on this front when more is known.

Hinchinbrook NRM Forum and Far North Queensland Pest Advisory Forum - shared agenda for a bumper edition

Land managers will converge on the brilliant facilities at Hinchinbrook Shire Council's Tyto Wetlands Centre this month for a forum which spans sustainable agriculture, water quality and pest management.  The packed three day agenda (subject to change) will bring together a broad spectrum of presenters from local groups and agencies to national research programs and interstate visitors.  Bookings are essential to assist with catering.

Please note we had hoped to have a field day demonstrating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in action, but due to pending State approvals we have postponed the event to a time (we expect) early next year when commercial operators will be able to operate in Queensland airspace.

Terrain NRM organisational review and re-structure

As many will be aware Terrain NRM, the Natural Resource Management organisation for the Wet Tropics, has undergone a major organisational review and restructure over the past 12 months or so.  The primary concerns from some Local Governments have been the loss or redirection of local staff/positions to new roles or portfolios within the organisation.  The new look NRM group for the Wet Tropics will take some adjusting to but we do need to remind ourselves that the two major issues many local governments had with the previous arrangements; the size of the organisation and the lack of on-ground resources reaching the 'coal-face' have good opportunity to be addressed in the new model. Carole Sweatman, Terrain CEO, has indicated that issues raised by local government were some of the key principles at the core of the restructure.

To assist in navigating your way around roles, portfolios and personalities of the revised Terrain NRM, they have kindly provided us with their new organisational chart.  For more information on Terrain NRM go to www.terrain.org.au.

Upcoming dates:

Mossman Hiptage Taskforce, November 4-8, Mossman

Hinchinbrook NRM Forum/FNQPAF/NAMAC - November 19-22, Tyto Wetlands Centre, Ingham

Terrain NRM Annual General Meeting - November 29, 4pm, Cairns

For more information or to keep abreast of new developments and forums in this space join our mailing list to receive meeting notifications go to the region's very own resource at the Far North Queensland Pest Advisory Forum Website www.fnqpaf.com.au.

Who have we highlighted this month?  It's none other than Croydon Shire Council CEO Bill Kerwin.  Pictured here a recent State Government round table meeting, we were very impressed to see Bill in a tie!

From ties we move to footwear!  Don't worry if you forget to wear your shoes to an out-of-town Board meeting, just grin and bear it and try if you can to hide the sandals!  Steven Cosatto didn't skip a beat in Cooktown recently, but he didn't avoid the camera!

We would love to see the lighter, funnier side of our member Council executive staff and Mayors, and so encourage their assistants to contact us with any photographs or stories.

You borrow $50 from your Mum and $50 from your Dad.

You buy a shirt which costs $97 and you receive $3 change.

You give a $1 back to your mum and a $1 back to your Dad and keep $1 for yourself.

So, you owe your Mum $49 and your Dad $49 and you have a $1.

Where is the missing dollar?

IAP2 will visit Cairns in November to deliver the internationally recognised Certificate in Effective Public Participation. The course is being held at Rydges, 137 The Esplanade, Cairns.  Places in the course are limited. 

Dates

Tuesday the 26th and Wednesday the 27th of November – Planning for Effective Public Participation

Thursday the 28th of November – Communications for Public Participation

Pricing

Members

2 day course - $1100.00 including gst

1 day course - $605.00 including gst

Non Members

2 day course - $1375.00 including gst

1 day course - $715.00 including gst

[[FNQROC is contacted regularly by government and industry organisations asking us to distribute information about events, conferences, meetings and opportunities to elected representatives and council officers. FNQROC is not a distribution service however we would like to offer 'advertising' space regarding events etc (those held in the FNQROC region only) in our e-newsletter. We aim to distribute our e-newsletter on a monthly basis in the first week of each month. In return for this advertising space (should the timing be right), FNQROC requests a place at the event which we can offer to an FNQROC staff member or a council officer. That representative also can offer feedback to the event organiser and member councils. This is a win-win situation for everyone.  Interested parties should email FNQROC Administration Officer Sandra McCormack for further details.]]

FNQROC Board meetings and technical committee meeting dates are listed below.

Postal Address: PO Box 5638, Cairns QLD 4870

Key Contacts for FNQROC

	Darlene Irvine - Executive Officer FNQROC Management, Strategic Priorities, Regional Development Manual  Email: email/d.irvine)(fnqroc.qld.gov.au Phone: 07 4044 3038 Mobile: 0403 808 680
	Travis Sydes - Regional Natural Asset Management Coordinator Natural Landscapes and Pest Management Email: email/t.sydes)(fnqroc.qld.gov.au Mobile: 0448 852 732
	Gerard Read - Regional Roads & Transport Group Coordinator  Regional Roads & Transport Group  Email: email/g.read)(fnqroc.qld.gov.au Mobile: 0437 231 068
	Steven Cosatto - Regional Infrastructure Projects Coordinator Regional Roads & Transport Group, Regional Recycling/Waste Management, Regional Asset Management Email: email/s.cosatto)(fnqroc.qld.gov.au Phone: 07 4044 3408 Mobile: 0428 486 447
	Amanda Hancock - Regional Procurement Coordinator  Regional Procurement Email: email/a.hancock)(fnqroc.qld.gov.au Phone: 07 4044 3021 Mobile: 0418 974 214
	Sandra McCormack - Administration Support Email: email/s.mccormack)(fnqroc.qld.gov.au Phone: 07 4044 3343
	Vacant - Regional Development Officer Regional Economic Development Email: email/rdo)(advancecairns.com Phone: 07 4080 2916 Mobile: 0427 865 423
	Chair Cr Bill Shannon, Mayor, Cassowary Coast Regional Council Email: email/mayor)(ccrc.qld.gov.au Phone: 07 4030 2205
	Deputy Chair Cr Peter Scott, Mayor, Cook Shire Council  Email: email/pscott)(cook.qld.gov.au Phone: 07 4082 0533