Minutes/Actions Environment & Waterways Alliance Reference Group Meeting Wednesday 18 November, 2015 – Duntryleague, Orange

Present Murray Wood – Dubbo City Council Joel Little – Bathurst Regional Council David Waddell – Orange City Council Deborah Taylor – Bathurst Regional Council Ken Harrison – Murray Darling Basin Catriona Jennings – Dubbo City Council Authority Cassie Liney – Mid-Western Regional Council Bridget Boreham – Local Land Services Weeds Sean Richardson – Mid-Western Regional Cross Regional Team Council Michael Chambers – Council Jacob Evans – Mellissa Schrader – Central West Local Land Warwick Doulman – Cabonne Council Services James Cleasby – Council Cherie Hughes – Central West Local Land Stevie Armstrong – Bathurst Regional Council Services Roy Jennison – Upper Macquarie County Milton Lewis – Central Tablelands Local Land Council Services Craig Flemming – Contamination Central Diana Kureen – Central Tablelands Local Land Leon Ross – Council Services Robert Jehu – Council Mick Callan – Environment & Waterways Bill Josh – Orange City Council/Bathurst Alliance Regional Council Eric Alessi – Council Ryan Thomas – Central West Local Land Services

Apologies Heather Nicholls – Cabonne Council Mark Linton-Harland – Wayne Gailey – Orange Shire Council Council Damon Cupitt – Lithgow City Council Grant Baker – Council Andrew Francis – Parkes Shire Council Ashley Wielinga – Warren Shire Council Janet Bingham – Bathurst Shire Council Alison Thompson – Bathurst Regional Council Nathan Skelly – Blayney Shire Council Brad Cam – Mid Western Regional Council Maryanne Stephenson – Warren Shire Daryl Colwell – Mid-Western Regional Council Council Matthew Cock – Council Jane Chrystal – Central West Local Land Kristy Presnell – Coonamble Shire Council Services Andrew Johns – Council Kayla Volka – Council Phil King – Lachlan Shire Council Liz Densley – Mid-Western Regional Council Chris McCulloch – Central Tablelands Local Chris Cannard – Oberon Shire Council Land Services Maryanne Smith – Orange City Council Andrew Cosier – Wellington Shire Council Debbie Archer – Dubbo City Council Gretel Purser – Wellington Shire Council Lindsay Mathieson – Gilgandra Shire Council Roger Smith – Orange City Council Brad Perera – Gilgandra Shire Council

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Presenters Ken Harrison – Environmental Water Management in the Murray Darling Basin Bridget Boreham – Regional Weed Strategies David Waddell – Orange Biobanking Scheme Milton Lewis – Management of Land Using Fire as a Tool Michael Chambers – Creating a Forest Link

Chair Facilitator Murray Wood Diana Kureen

Agenda Item 1 Welcome

 Meeting was opened at 10am  Acknowledgement was made of the Traditional Owners of the Land and their Elders past and present  Introduction of participants  Introduction to the meeting and outline of the content  WHS considerations for the meeting

Motion: Minutes from the previous meeting be accepted Moved: David Waddell Seconded: Deborah Taylor

Agenda Item 2 Alliance Update Mick Callan  Update on Alliance activities over the previous months as outlined in Alliance Project Support Officer Reports. These reports – for both Central Tablelands and Central West Local Land Services regions – are available on the Alliance website in the Members Area. Members to download and read. ACTION  Following some technical difficulties a brief tour of the new Alliance website was conducted to demonstrate the various information available at on the site at present. All member councils are encouraged to provide information for the website and Alliance Facebook page such as case studies, relevant documents, events etc. ACTION  Alliance 5 Year Plan still open for review with members encouraged to provide feedback prior to Friday 20 November, 2015. ACTION It is anticipated that the final plan will be released in December 2015.  Central Tablelands Local Land Services Incentive Funding was awarded to five Alliance member councils under the Waterways Values – Local Government stream. A brief summary of each project was presented. Further information, including fact sheets, is available on the Alliance website.  Central West Local Land Services Incentive Funding recently closed with a total of 8 applications received. It is anticipated that successful projects will be announced in December 2015.  Alliance training was discussed with potential for fully funded or subsidised project management training in 2016 with Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia as a potential training provider. Other suggestions for training are encouraged. ACTION

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 The Alliance plans to host a workshop in 2016 for member councils to develop Catchment Action Plans as required under the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. Brief background presentation regarding the request from NSW Health representatives to assist with this workshop and template development.  The Alliance is now a member of the 202020 Vision with all member councils encouraged to have a look at their website and identify projects that have the potential to be used as case studies. ACTION  Diana Kureen thanked Catriona Jennings and Deborah Taylor for their considerable input into the development of the Regional State of the Environment Reports which were distributed at the meeting.

Contamination Central Craig Flemming Update  Update on the Contamination Central project with Craig informing the group that a policy is now under development.  19 Councils have signed on to the project with Warren and Bogan being the two Alliance members who have yet to join the Contamination Central project.  Once the policy is developed it will go on public exhibition with a policy template to be developed for each Council.  Fit for the Future and potential amalgamations may have an impact on policy adoption but regional adoption will benefit all Councils as developers will understand that there is consistency across the region.  Resources are currently available on the Environment & Waterways Alliance website and will be added to as further resources are developed. ACTION  A conference is being planned for next year in partnership with ALGA. All Alliance Councils are now able to join ALGA at no cost. ACTION

Agenda Item 3 Environmental Water Ken Harrison Management in the Murray Darling Basin  Ken was until recently employed by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office.  The Water Division are a separate agency to the Murray Darling Basin Authority who manage the buying and selling of water.  The Basin Wide Environmental Watering Strategy contains four key areas being connectivity, fish, vegetation and waterbirds.  Since 2009 4,200 GL has been delivered for the environment.  Northern Basin review of the Plan currently underway as well as 6 environmental science investigations and will incorporate a social and economic review and overhaul of hydrological modelling.

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Agenda Item 4 Orange Biobanking David Waddell Scheme  Office of Environment & Heritage requirement for Orange City Council to provide offsets for the vegetation removed along 37km Macquarie River pipeline.  250Ha farm purchased by Council for offset with requirement to maintain and enhance habitat on the farm.  Partnership developed with Orange LALC to maintain the property.  Property is bordered by Girralang Nature Reserve which is managed by National Parks & Wildlife Service which was an opportunistic purchase as it provided the required vegetation communities.  The project will create more offset credits than required from the pipeline project.  A total of $790,000 was paid to OEH which is then fed back to Council annually to undertake agreed works as set out in a developed Management Action Plan with regular reporting requirements.  The initial clean-up was a huge undertaking with large volumes of rubbish removed.  Traditional burning is being used at the site as part of an integrated weed management approach.

Agenda Item 5 Management of Land Milton Lewis Using Fire as a Tool  Cultural burning is being conducted as part of the Central Tablelands Local Land Services Cultural Programmes.  Fire is important as it has cultural and ecological significance.  Burning has many cultural purposes and meanings.  Canopy is a sacred place so fire does not burn hot enough to reach the forest canopy.  There is no evidence of cultural fire in the carbon layer prior to European settlement as the cultural burns are not hot fires.  Aboriginal burns conducted as maintenance of grassland in Mallee regions.  Burning can reinstate absent native grasses, control weeds and benefit perennial grass species.  At the Girralang biobanking site, burning has resulted in control of Serrated Tussock.  Burning planned in Bathurst Copper Butterfly sites to promote regeneration of Bursaria spinosa subsp. lasiophylla which is habitat for this endangered species.

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Agenda Item 6 Central West Local Land Ryan Thomas Services Update Melissa Schrader Cherie Hughes  Ryan Thomas provided an update on the Central West Local Land Services Local Strategic Plan.  Cherie Hughes provided an update on the Central West Local Land Services incentive funding for Local Government and the Local Government Community Advisory Group.  Melissa Schrader led a general discussion about Central West Local Land Services engagement with Local Government and how the relationship can be developed going forward.  A concurrent session was held with Diana Kureen providing an update regarding the Central Tablelands Local Land Services Local Strategic Plan.

Agenda Item 7 Regional Weed Strategies Bridget Boreham  Review of weed management in NSW with a focus on 7 key points.  Cross regional team includes representatives Reg Kidd and Scott Charlton.  Local Land Services approach is to: o Get relationships right o Build on successes o Build on local skills o Recognise that each region is unique o Promote innovation and sharing  The State Weed Committee has not yet been formed.  General terms of reference for all committees and plans.

Agenda Item 8 NSW Weeds Conference Sean Richardson  Conference was hosted by Cooma/Monaro Shire and was of a very high standard.  New chemicals have been developed/approved for treatment of Serrated Tussock.  Trade show provided access to industry representatives.  Overview of the Biosecurity Act and subordinate legislation including what this means for Local Control Authorities.  An information system is currently being developed which will be cloud based.  Drone technology is improving which may lead to assistance with inspections although satellite technology looks to be the way forward.

Agenda Item 9 Creating a Forest Link Michael Chambers  Parkes Shire Council partnered with Central West Lachlan Landcare to work with local schools and community.  The project site is located off Akuna Road and is approximately 400Ha in size.  The site has been set aside as the future waste water treatment plant.  5,000 trees and shrubs planted with assistance from the 20 Million Trees programme with all species being representative of Fuzzy Box Woodland EEC.

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Agenda Item 10 Any Other Business  Mick Callan discussed the proposed Urban Forest Plan Workshops to be held in conjunction with the 202020 Vision in 2016. This would provide another partnership with direct benefits for Alliance Member Councils.  It was decided that the Alliance meetings in 2016 would be held on the third Tuesday of February, May, August and November.

Next Meeting – Tuesday 16 February 2016 – time and venue to be confirmed

The meeting closed at 3:00pm

Key Actions/Agreements from this meeting Key Action/Agreement Responsibility Priority Status Due By/Notes ACTION: Alliance members to All Medium December 2015 download and read Project Support Officer Report ACTION: Councils to provide All Medium February 2016 information to Alliance Project Ongoing Support Officer for distribution on Alliance website and Facebook page ACTION: Review Alliance 5 Year Plan All High Complete 20 November 2015 and provide feedback to Alliance Project Support Officer ACTION: Investigate options for Mick Callan Medium February 2016 Project Management Training including IPWEA as training provider ACTION: Provide suggestions for All Medium February 2016 training in 2016 ACTION: Identify suitable projects All Low February 2016 for use as case studies for Alliance website and 202020 Vision website ACTION: Update Alliance website Craig Medium February 2016 with all Contamination Central Flemming documents and resources ACTION: Investigate option of All Medium February 2016 becoming a member of ALGA

Key Actions/Agreements from previous meeting Key Action/Agreement Responsibility Priority Status Due By/Notes ACTION: Water Managers to discuss All Water High ? with other sections of Council – Managers and planning etc. – to assist with other staff reporting responsible for reporting. ACTION: Liaise with Water Utilities Diana Kureen Medium Complete September 2015 Alliances re. Water Liveability Indicators included in Regional SOE Reporting

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ACTION: Investigate opportunity for Mick Callan High Incomplete June 2015 joint application to the Climate Meredith Change Adaptation program Macpherson ACTION: Councils that have yet to Dubbo, High Complete June 2015 formally agree to be involved in the Wellington, Youth Stormwater Champions Narromine, project to contact Mick Callan: Lachlan, 6333 2323 Forbes Councils ACTION: Identify potential wetland Mick Callan Medium Complete July 2015 sites and partnerships for the All proposed Wetlands out West Alliance application to the NSW Environmental Trust ACTION: Seek further quotation/s Mick Callan High Complete June 2015 for the design & build of an Alliance website ACTION: Organise Alliance meeting Diana Kureen High Complete June 2015 to update 5 Year Plan in early July Mick Callan ACTION: Finalise funding available Mick Callan Medium Complete July 2015 to Councils through LLS budgets as Diana Kureen well as determine manner in which Cherie Hughes funds are to be distributed in each region ACTION: Councils wanting to elect All Councils Medium Complete – July 2015 to be involved in the Contamination yet to join Warren Central project to contact Project Contamination and Bogan Support Officer Craig Flemming: Central project yet to join 0429 893 052 ACTION: Arrange for a Diana Kureen Medium Complete July 2015 representative of Orange City Mick Callan Council to present to the group re. David Waddell biobanking project

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