Know How Environmental Assessment Report Ministerial Infrastructure Designation (MID) for the Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wetlands Project Prepared for Lendlease Communities (Shoreline) Pty Ltd Our Reference: 8868 12 November 2020 ■ Environmental Assessment Report - Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wetlands Project © Saunders Havill Group Pty Ltd 2020 ABN 24 144 972 949 www.saundershavill.com Saunders Havill Group Pty Ltd (SHG) has prepared this document for the sole use of its client and for a specific purpose, as expressly stated in the document. No other party should rely on this document without the prior consent of SHG. SHG undertakes no duty, nor accepts any responsibility, to any third party who may rely on upon or use the document. 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Document Issue Issue Date Prepared By Checked By Draft 30 September 2020 Laura Urbina Nick Christofis Final 11 November 2020 Nick Christofis Ashley Lovell i ■ Environmental Assessment Report - Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wetlands Project Abbreviations and Glossary ACHA Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 ARI Average Recurrence Interval ASS Acid Sulfate Soils AHD Australian Height Datum ADWF Average Dry Weather Flow BPZ Bushfire Protection Zone City Plan 2018 Redland City Plan 2018 – version 4 CLR Contaminated Land Register DAF Department of Agriculture and Fisheries DAMS Development Assessment Mapping System DATSIP Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships DES Department of Environment and Science DFES Department of Fire and Emergency Services DNRME Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy DPC Department of Premier and Cabinet DSDMIP Department of State Development, Tourism and Innovation DTMR Department of Transport and Main Roads EAR Environmental Assessment Report EMR Environmental Management Register EP Equivalent Persons EPA Environmental Protection Act 1994 EPBC Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) EP (Noise) Environmental Protection (Noise) Policy 2019 ESD Ecologically Sustainable Development ERA Environmentally Relevant Activity FTE Full Time Equivalent IA Infrastructure Agreement MID Ministerial Infrastructure Designation ID Team Queensland Treasury – Planning Group Infrastructure Designation Team LGA Local Government Area LGIP Local Government Infrastructure Plan LRV Log Reduction Values MCA Multi Criteria Assessment MBR Membrane Bioreactor MFW Mangrove Filtration Wetlands MGR Minister’s Guidelines and Rules MID Ministerial Infrastructure Designation MLES Matters of Local Environmental Significance MNES Matters of National Environmental Significance MSES Mattes of State Environmental Significance NCA Nature Conservation Act 1992 PA Planning Act 2016 PIA Priority Infrastructure Area POD Plan of Development PR Planning Regulation 2017 ii ■ Environmental Assessment Report - Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wetlands Project QTPG Queensland Treasury – Planning Group RCC Redland City Council SAO’s State Assessment Outcomes SARA State Assessment Referral Agency SEQ South East Queensland ShapingSEQ ShapingSEQ, South East Queensland Regional Plan 2017 SPP State Planning Policy SRBEA Southern Redland Bay Expansion Area STP Sewer Treatment Plant VMA Vegetation Management Act 1999 WWTP Waste Water Treatment Plant iii ■ Environmental Assessment Report - Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wetlands Project Executive Summary This Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) is written on behalf of Lendlease Communities (Shoreline) (the Infrastructure Entity and proponent ) who seek a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation (MID) over the premises at 38 Longland Road, Redland Bay for the proposed Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and wetlands project (the project), pursuant to Chapter 2, Part 5, section 36 of the Planning Act 2016 (PA). Saunders Havill Group have prepared this EAR to support the request in accordance with the MID process overview (version 1.3 – 17 June 2019, D18/227762) from Queensland Treasury – Planning Group (QTPG) and the Minister’s Guidelines and Rules (MGR), Chapter 7 – Guidelines for the process for environmental assessment and consolation for making or amending a Ministerial designation . The proposed MID is needed under this framework to facilitate the efficient and timely supply of infrastructure to service land within the Urban Footprint in Southern Redland Bay, being the key greenfield dwelling supply area for the Redlands Local Government Area (LGA), identified in ShapingSEQ - South East Queensland Regional Plan 2017 (ShapingSEQ ). The project aligns with the following two (2) infrastructure categories under Schedule 5, Part 2 of the Planning Regulation 2017 (PR): . Category 17 - water cycle management infrastructure; and . Category 19 - any other facility not stated in this part that is intended mainly to accommodate government functions. The project is to be delivered as a collaborative partnership between Lendlease, Redland City Council (RCC) and Redland Water (RW) with whom extensive pre-consultation has occurred; and represents a best practice recycle water management system to treat wastewater from the Southern Redland Bay catchment, which includes the Lendlease development of Shoreline, currently under construction. The Shoreline development will be home to approximately 10,000 Equivalent Persons (EP) (up to 3,500 dwellings) and is intended to include a town centre, school, regionally significant foreshore parklands, regional sport facilities, district centre as well as new and restored ecological corridors. An additional 3,500 new residents are anticipated to be accommodated within the balance of the Southern Redland Bay catchment that is within the Urban Footprint. Upon completion, the new sub-regional WWTP infrastructure is anticipated to service a total population of approximately 13,500 EP or up to 5,000 dwellings, gradually reaching capacity over a period of twenty (20) years. In 2019, RCC resolved to support a sub-regional solution to provide wastewater treatment for the Southern Redland Bay catchment, for land within the Urban Footprint. Whilst Lendlease is the infrastructure entity for the MID, it is agreed that following construction and an initial maintenance period, RW and RCC will take over the maintenance and management of the infrastructure. This project adopts a sustainable and innovative methodology to wastewater management, setting a new benchmark for the delivery of community infrastructure for wastewater management. The proposal involves the construction of an advanced Membrane Bioreactor (MBR ) WWTP to treat recycled water to an extremely high standard; as well as a secondary natural filtration system (wetlands), being the creation of a 9.854ha mangrove forest and salt-marsh habitat. The wetland system is intended to ‘polish’ the recycled water from the WWTP and offset the nutrient load through nitrogen retention/de-nitrification (with the added benefit of offsetting carbon as a carbon sink). Additional environmental benefits include further nutrient offset through sediment accretion, mitigating effects of sea level rise, mitigating the effects of flooding, erosion protection and significant additional estuarine habitat creation. The WWTP and mangrove offset proposal is an exemplar project that provides significant environmental, social and cost advantages over traditional wastewater solutions, which would typically involve treatment and direct disposal to the ocean or river system. iv ■ Environmental Assessment Report - Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wetlands Project RPS Economics, within a report commissioned by Lendlease, found that development of the Southern Redland Bay catchment must commence in the short term if Redland City is to reach the planned population of 188,000 people by 2041 (Table 13, Shaping SEQ ). More importantly, Redland City must continue to develop and evolve all employment opportunities if the LGA is to host the planned 69,200 employees by 2041. Key project benefits for the proposed essential community infrastructure include – Innovation and Ecological Sustainability – . Achieve environmental sustainability and best-practice wastewater management through treatment of wastewater to a high standard via an MBR treatment plant and offset remaining nutrient loads in recycled water via the construction of a suitably sized configured wetland ecosystem; . The delivery in a significant net ecological benefit through an increase in marine and terrestrial flora and fauna habitat; . Construct a new wetland system as an alternative to a conventional wastewater treatment system (with ocean or river discharge), which is intended to offset nutrients loads from the proposed WWTP and the Logan River by way of nitrogen retention/de-nitrification and phosphorous capture and storage; . Deliver a sustainable wastewater solution which includes re-use of water and a land-based disposal (to wetlands) of excess recycled water; . Deliver