Minutes of Meeting

Biodiversity and Agriculture Advisory Committee Meeting

Venue	Conference Room, Station Street, Mullumbimby
Date	Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Time	4:30 PM

BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL

Biodiversity and Agriculture Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 13 May 2025

Minutes of the Biodiversity and Agriculture Advisory Committee Meeting held on Tuesday, 13 May 2025

File No: I2025/654

PRESENT:       

Councillors:	Cr S Ndiaye	Audio-Visual
	Cr D Warth	Present
	Cr M Lowe	Present
Staff:	Shannon Burt (Director Sustainable Environment and Economy)	Present
	Liz Caddick (Biodiversity Team Leader)	Present
	Jo Green (Project Officer – Koala)	Audio- Visual
	Mark Duncan (Agricultural Extension Officer)	Present
	Carey Crowley (minute taker)	Present
Community Representatives:	Annette McKinley	Audio-visual
	Hedley Grantham	Audio-visual
	Lindsay Murray	Present
	James Jackson	Apology
	James Barrie	Present
	Peter Westheimer	Audio-visual
	Dave Rawlins	Apology

Cr Ndiaye (Chair) opened the meeting at 4.34pm and acknowledged that the meeting was being held on Bundjalung Country.

Attendance via AUDIO-VISUAL LINK:

Cr Ndiaye, Annette McKinley, Hedley Grantham, Peter Westheimer,

Apologies:

James Jackson, Dave Rawlins

Declarations of Interest – Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes from Previous Meetings

Report No. 3.1           Confirmation of the Minutes of the Biodiversity and Agriculture Advisory Committee Meeting held on 9 May 2024

File No:                       I2025/604

Committee Recommendation:

That the minutes of the Biodiversity and Agriculture Advisory Committee Meeting held on 9 May 2024 be confirmed.

(Ndiaye/Westheimer)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Note: The minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2024 were noted, and the Committee Recommendations adopted by Council, at the Ordinary Meeting held on 27 June 2024.

Business Arising from Previous Minutes

There was no business arising from previous minutes.

Staff Reports - Sustainable Environment and Economy

Report No. 4.1           2023 Koala Activity Monitoring

File No:                       I2025/312

Committee Recommendation:

That the Biodiversity and Agricultural Advisory Committee notes the Koala Activity Monitoring Report 2023 (Attachment 1 E2024/12210).

(Lowe/Westheimer)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 4.2           Biodiversity and Agriculture Projects and Operations Update

File No:                       I2025/239

Committee Recommendation:

That the Biodiversity and Agricultural Advisory Committee:

1. Notes the update on current projects and programmes being undertaken by Council staff.

2. Requests staff to arrange a discussion with key stakeholders about fire ant management at a future Committee meeting.

(Warth/Ndiaye)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 4.3           Brunswick Valley Landcare Support Officer quarterly reports, October-December 2024 and January-March 2025.

File No:                       I2025/318

Committee Recommendation:

That the Biodiversity and Agricultural Advisory Committee note the reports (Attachments 1 and 2 E2025/27132 and E2025/36131).

(Westheimer/McKinley)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 4.4           Wallum Heath on Pleistocene Threatened Ecological Community listing Working Group

File No:                       I2025/327

Committee Recommendation:

That the Biodiversity and Agriculture Advisory Committee:

1. Confirms the promulgation of the Wallum Heath on Pleistocene Working Group.

2.  Agrees to Cr Ndiaye as Chair and James Barrie as lead.

3.  Notes that staff involvement is not required and provided at the discretion of the Director Sustainable Environment and Economy.

4.  Agrees to Cr Ndiaye, James Barrie and Dave Rawlins meeting prior to the next Biodiversity and Agriculture Advisory Committee meeting to:

b)      Confirm how meetings are to be recorded.

          c)      Confirm working group membership.

          d)      Confirm frequency and location of meetings.

5. Notes interest from Annette Mckinley, Cr Lowe, Cr Warth, Peter Westheimer and Hedley Grantham to participate in the working group.

(Barrie/Westheimer)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

For Information Only

Report No. 6.1           Wildlife Corridors

File No:                       I2025/634

Report No. 6.2           Integrated Planning and Reporting

File No:                       I2025/652

There being no further business the meeting concluded at 6.32pm.