Addendum Agenda of Ordinary Meeting

Ordinary Meeting

Meeting Date: Tuesday, 18 December, 2018

Location: Council Chambers, City Administrative Building, Bridge Road, Nowra

Time: 5.00pm

Membership (Quorum - 7)

All Councillors

Addendum Agenda

Mayoral Minute

MM18.20..... Mayoral Minute - Congratulations to Canberra Nature Map and Milton Rural Landcare partners of the NatureMapr Network.............................................................. 1

MM18.21..... Mayoral Minute - PFAS/PFOS – Jervis Bay and the Booderee Penisula..... 5

MM18.22..... Mayoral Minute - Standing Orders for Committees and Ordinary Meeting... 6

Reports

Finance Corporate & Community Services

CL18.382..... Acceptance of Grant Funding - Dept of Communications and Arts - Visions of Australia Touring Fund - Promiscuous Provenance Exhibition..................... 7

Addendum Agenda - Ordinary Meeting – Tuesday 18 December 2018

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MM18.20 Mayoral Minute - Congratulations to Canberra Nature Map and Milton Rural Landcare partners of the NatureMapr Network

HPERM Ref: D18/436521

Attachments: 1. Media release NatureMapr Network wins National Banksia Award Dec 2018 ⇩

Recommendation

That Council write a letter of congratulations to both Canberra Nature Map and Milton Rural Landcare for receiving the 2018 Banksia Community Award. Council has also partnered with Milton Rural Landcare to deliver some funds for this project which enables ground truthing of flora and fauna sightings across the region.

Details

What is NatureMapr?

The NatureMapr Network is the fastest developing biodiversity mapping initiative in Australia and is a unique example of how community-led citizen-science initiatives and partnerships across government agencies can add real value to regional management for environmental sustainability.

This is a successful model demonstrating how a user-friendly biological data gathering tool can provide the basis for a range of sustainability outcomes – developing communities of interest and practice, collaboration with government agencies for informed environmental decision making and over time it will allow recording of progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Across the South East corner of New South Wales and the ACT this network is creating a beautiful and valuable online database of regional biodiversity. The NatureMapr Network also demonstrates community engagement, lifelong learning and capacity building in and around the natural world. The Canberra Nature Map (CNM), Atlas of Life Coastal Wilderness and from May 2018 the Atlas of Life Budawang Coast are significant community led, volunteer run projects which have attracted broad scientific and professional support because of the evident value of the activities, engagement and scientific and management outcomes.

To date the network has attracted over 2,000 contributors, recorded over 1.18 million sightings of over 7,000 species. Once moderated, data contributes to the Atlas of Living Australia and thence to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. These projects are also engaging community and data gathering at the detailed granular level being requested by the United Nations for reporting progress against the SDGs, in this case particularly: 4, 15, 17 and in time 13.

Each project has database administrators, local contributors and the energy and creativity of the platform creator, Aaron Clausen to ensure the continual enhancement of this user-friendly recording platform for its communities of interest. 126 expert Moderators ensure the validity of each record before it is accepted. Moderators also mentor and nurture the citizen scientists recording their sightings.

Examples of sustainability outcomes from the network to date are; the Canberra orchid and fire study in Aranda Reserve, initiated and undertaken by CNM contributors supported by scientists, the results of this research leading to different and more complex fire-management regimes to better protect orchid populations; Frequently the availability of real-time records of invasive weeds now result in swift and very cost-effective actions for natural resource managers; several species have been removed from threatened species lists because of better more comprehensive community collected data.

As well as encouraging individual data gathering, the projects undertake a range of targeted surveys and activities such as BioBlitzes, Target Species and research to gather particular data, attract new contributors and inform existing members.

The NatureMapr network can readily replicate this successful model and offer support to any region which is keen to develop the same kind of project. Members of the network also offer tools developed here such as the “Australian Guide to running a BioBlitz” and are currently developing mechanisms for reporting to the SDGs, both regionally and globally and will offer these widely.

The Banksia Community Award is dedicated to everyone who is helping to build the database. Please see attached media release.

Addendum Agenda - Ordinary Meeting – Tuesday 18 December 2018

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MM18.21 Mayoral Minute - PFAS/PFOS – Jervis Bay and the Booderee Penisula

HPERM Ref: D18/437954

Recommendation

That:

1. Council write to the Federal Government (Ministers for Defence, Health and Aboriginal Affairs CC to Prime Minister) to advocate on behalf of the people living and working on the Booderee peninsula. The community are very concerned for their ongoing health and request that the Government undertake urgent blood testing. The Government also need to support people with their long-term health outcomes and should work in collaboration with the community to monitor their health into the future.

2. The Government assist Shoalhaven City Council in getting the facts into the media and encouraging residents and visitors to stay abreast of facts not fiction.

Details

Councillors will all be aware of the issue of PFAS/PFOS contamination on defence lands. Recent works have been undertaken in the greater Nowra area in relation to contamination related to HMAS Albatross. Defence have kept Council well abreast of this issue. However, the issues in relation to HMAS Creswell and the affected villages on the Booderee Peninsula have been under reported to Shoalhaven City Council due to the management of these lands falling to the ACT Government. I believe that SCC has a duty of care towards the people who reside on the Peninsula, they may technically be the citizens of another jurisdiction, but they are Shoalhaven People without doubt.

Most of the people who are living on the peninsula are from the local Aboriginal Communities and they are completely underwhelmed by the Governments lack of response to their health needs and issues. Ill health has been an issue for the residents over some time. In advocating for the people of the Booderee Peninsula we are supporting them in their quest for answers.

The Government need to assist Shoalhaven City Council with the messaging about these substances and make sure that our people, residents and visitors alike are informed not alarmed. Recent media reportage has had negative implications for our visitor economy and is likely to go on impacting. Shoalhaven City Council has done what it can to reinforce the message that the waters of Jervis Bay are safe to swim in and the drinking water supply for the coastal villages is safe to drink.

I seek Council’s support to lobby the relevant Federal and Territorial Government agencies on behalf of our people.

Addendum Agenda - Ordinary Meeting – Tuesday 18 December 2018

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CL18.382 Acceptance of Grant Funding - Dept of Communications and Arts - Visions of Australia Touring Fund - Promiscuous Provenance Exhibition

HPERM Ref: D18/439555

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Recreation Community & Culture

Purpose / Summary

To seek Council’s approval to accept $75,502 from the Department of Communications and the Arts as part of the Visions of Australia Touring Fund, to support the regional tour of Shoalhaven Regional Gallery’s Promiscuous Provenance exhibition

Recommendation

That Council:

1. Accept the grant funding of $75,502 (ex GST) to support the regional tour of Promiscuous Provenance as part of the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery’s audience development strategy.

2. Write to the Department of Communications and the Arts, Senator the Honourable Mitch Fifield, to thank him for the grant.

Options

1. Council accept the grant of $75,502 awarded to Shoalhaven Regional Gallery for the national tour of the Promiscuous Provenance exhibition

Implications: The grant will contribute to the costs associated with a touring exhibition, including freight charges, travel costs for a staff member to support volunteer led galleries interstate and travel costs for the artist to deliver public programming associated with the exhibition.

2. Council do not accept the funding and provide an alternate direction to staff.

Implications: The tour will only be able to occur within NSW and we will miss the opportunity to access audiences in QLD, ACT and SA through this exhibition.

Background

The Visions of Australia Fund was established to support audience access to Australian arts and cultural material, with a particular focus on tours to regional and remote Australia.

Shoalhaven Regional Gallery has worked with regional galleries across QLD, VIC, ACT and SA to promote the Promiscuous Provenance exhibition, an exhibition commissioned by the Gallery and created by local artist Anna Glynn. Through the promotion of the exhibition, 11 regional galleries across 4 states have agreed to host the exhibition from March 2019 – March 2021. Some of these galleries are Noosa Regional Gallery, The World Theatre (Charters Towers), The National Botanic Gardens (ACT), The Hahndorf Academy (SA), Port Pirie Regional Gallery, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Orange Regional Gallery and Jervis Bay Maritime Museum. It is estimated that the exhibition will be viewed by more than 40,000 people over the course of the tour.

The total cost of the tour is estimated to be $131,000, this includes hard costs such as freight, travel costs for a staff member and the artist, and providing support for public program related activities at each venue, as well as in-kind costs including tour administration, development of tour support materials and tour related marketing materials. The grant funds from Visions of Australia will cover most of the costs related to freight for the exhibition, and the exhibition hire fees charged to each gallery will cover additional costs for travel and accommodation.

Community Engagement

The opportunity to tour an exhibition commissioned by Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, composed entirely of the work of a Shoalhaven based artist, to galleries across 4 different states, will significantly enhance the reputation and reach of the gallery. With anticipated audiences of more than 40,000 people, this flow on effects of this exhibition, through tourism, gallery visitation, and interest in Shoalhaven artists will be felt for several years. Further benefits include the opportunity for Shoalhaven Regional Gallery to partner with galleries in several states and develop new connections to enhance our programming and shared knowledge resources.

Financial Implications

The cost of touring the exhibition will be covered by the Visions of Australia grant, exhibition hire fees to galleries who host the show, and retail income associated with the sale of artworks, exhibition catalogues and associated merchandise. The hard costs of the tour are estimated at $103,500, with anticipated income being as follows

Visions of Australia Grant Fund $75,502

Exhibition hire fees $14,909

Create NSW Grant (unconfirmed) $10,000

Retail income $ 500

SRG budget (project support) $ 2,589

Should the grant funding application to Create NSW be unsuccessful, the scope of the associated events to support the tour will be reduced to fit available budget.