DRAFT BURGESS CREEK INTEGRATED CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN (ICMP)

Summary

Burgess Creek is a highly connected and sensitive coastal system, where upstream activities directly influence downstream water quality, ecological health, erosion processes and the condition of receiving environments. Increasing community interest in the creek's management has highlighted the need for a coordinated, evidence-based and whole-of-system approach to guide future decision-making and investment.

The Draft ICMP responds to this need by:

• establishing a clear vision, management principles and long-term goals for the catchment, • identifying key pressures, risks and system interactions across four interconnected sub-catchments, and • outlining a prioritised suite of strategies and actions to improve water quality, ecological health, system resilience and community outcomes.

The Draft ICMP has been informed by a combination of technical evidence and targeted stakeholder engagement (Phase 1 of a 2-phase engagement plan), including workshops with a broad cross-section of community and agency representatives. Importantly, the ICMP provides a clear line of sight between stakeholder input and proposed actions, supporting transparency and accountability.

The ICMP was funded by the current State Government, and the scope of this plan was developed with them and signed off by the State Government.

The Draft ICMP is therefore presented as a strategic framework rather than a detailed delivery program. Due to time and budget constraints set by the State Government who funded this plan, detailed implementation planning, such as infrastructure master planning, concept design and detailed cost estimation, has not been part of this scope. Instead, the ICMP identifies the priority areas where further investigation, investment and intervention will be required, providing a robust foundation for future business cases and funding decisions.

Implementation of the Draft ICMP will therefore need to be staged over time and considered and progressed through:

• Council's annual budget and operational planning processes, • integration with capital works programming and asset management frameworks, and • pursuit of external funding opportunities and partnership programs, including ongoing collaboration with agencies such as Unitywater.

A fit for purpose governance framework is proposed to support coordinated decision-making, integration across Council functions, and adaptive management informed by ongoing monitoring and community input.

This report seeks Council endorsement to release the Draft ICMP for Phase 2 community consultation, enabling broader community review via the Go Vocal platform and targeted engagement activities. Feedback received will be used to refine the plan prior to finalisation and presentation to Council for adoption.

The Draft ICMP represents an important step in establishing a clear, evidence-based and community-informed pathway for managing Burgess Creek, ensuring that future actions are strategically aligned, transparently developed, and responsive to both environmental needs and community expectations

The officer’s recommendation

Where this sits in the corporate plan

As stated in the report; one square per initiative under the objective this year.

How it’s funded

Previously before Council

nil

Consultation

• process
• Financial /
• Clear report
• Misinterpretation
• Reputation
• wording; ICMP
• that ICMP commits
• positions as
• Council to unfunded
• strategic
• Possible
• Medium
• Medium Yes
• works leading to
• framework;
• financial/reputational
• governance
• pressure
• controls
• Environment
• ICMP sets
• / Reputation Identified
• priorities and
• environmental
• phased
• issues not acted on
• actions;
• Borderline
• in short term leading
• Possible
• High
• High
• monitoring
• (manage)
• to perceived inaction
• framework;
• or environmental
• adaptive
• decline
• management
• Environment
• Evidence base
• Insufficient or
• / Service
• established;
• inconsistent data
• delivery
• monitoring and
• leading to
• Unlikely
• Medium
• Medium Yes
• MERI
• suboptimal decisionframework
• making
• included
• Service
• Governance
• Failure to effectively
• delivery /
• framework
• integrate ICMP
• Governance
• proposed;
• across Council
• cross-
• Possible
• Medium
• Medium Yes
• functions resulting in
• functional
• fragmented
• involvement to
• implementation
• date
• Reputation /
• Expectations of
• Communication
• Service
• immediate physical
• plan; staged
• delivery
• interventions (e.g.
• implementation
• Borderline
• Likely
• Medium
• High
• creek mouth works)
• approach;
• (manage)
• leading to
• education
• dissatisfaction
• messaging
• EnvironmentClimate events or
• Adaptive
• erosion processes
• management
• Yes
• accelerate beyond
• approach;
• (accepted
• current
• monitoring;
• Possible
• High
• High
• environmental
• understanding
• alignment with
• variability)
• impacting ICMP
• coastal hazard
• effectiveness
• planning
• Reputation /
• Failure to
• Structured
• Governance
• adequately engage
• engagement
• broader community
• plan; multiple
• Unlikely
• Medium
• Medium Yes
• in Phase 2 resulting
• engagement
• in reduced
• channels
• legitimacy of plan
• Financial /
• Prioritisation
• Resource
• Service
• framework;
• constraints delay
• Yes (within
• delivery
• future budget
• Likely
• Medium
• High
• progression of ICMP
• tolerance)
• alignment;
• actions
• staged delivery
• Reputation /
• Conflicting
• Whole-of-
• Service
• stakeholder
• system
• Yes
• delivery
• expectations
• approach;
• (managed
• (environment vs
• stakeholder
• Possible
• High
• High
• through
• recreation vs
• engagement;
• process)
• engineering
• governance
• outcomes)
• oversight

Report details

Index: 21.16 Integrated Catchment Management

Attachments

• 1 · Attachment 1. DRAFT Burgess Creek ICMP 26_06
• 2 · Attachment 2. Burgess Creek CMP - Communications and Engagement Plan