How the Report was Prepared

To gather information across all elements of the Shire, a number of committees were established to provide information. Environment, Urban and Economic, Social and Council technical committees were established to provide information on relevant chapters in the form of technical papers. These committees were comprised of members from a broad range of government agencies, private, industry and community organisations possessing technical expertise in a wide range of fields. Membership of these committees was open. The technical papers were produced to provide supplementary information to the main report. A Community Consultative and Organising Committee provided the public with the opportunity to comment on the reporting process, and content, at all stages as well as providing a key role in the organisation of the State of the Shire Forum.

Source: Paronella Park

The State of the Shire report aims to:

•   Provide regular information on the condition of the environment.
•   Report on the effectiveness of policies and programs developed in response to change.
•  Assess progress towards achieving goals and targets associated with sustainability.
•   Provide input into the development of long term ecological, economic and social policies.
•   Identify issues and important gaps in knowledge and data collection.
•   Raise community awareness and understanding of the local environment and their contribution to its degradation and protection.

This report is an initiative of the Johnstone Shire Council promoted initially by the Chairman of Council's Health and Environment Committee. Queensland Local Governments are not legislatively required to produce regular reports, unlike their New South Wales counterparts. Local governments in the southernmost corner of Queensland have prepared State of the Environment reports but to date no Local Government in the northern section of the state has finalised a report. Johnstone Shire Council is working cooperatively with the coordinators of the FNQ 2010 regional plan to develop a framework for reporting in the Far North Queensland Region.

The State of the Shire report is an all inclusive report, identifying issues across 7 broad themes (chapters). Themes covered and an overview of report content are summarised below:

•   Biodiversity - Flora and Fauna - audit of the unaltered natural resources.
•   Land Management - commercial usage of natural resources.
•   Water and Atmospheric Management - water and atmospheric quality and quantity .
•   Solid Waste Management - waste disposal and management .
•   The Shire Community - social infrastructure and welfare.
•   Economic Development - economic viability.
•   Council Activities - Council facilities and programs.

This initial report will be a benchmark report providing baseline data against which future performance can be measured. Only existing data was used in the preparation of this report and no specific investigations were conducted to fill gaps. However it is expected that these may arise as actions following the publication of the report. Annual updates will be produced, with a full new report prepared every 4 years following the elected term of Council.

It is hoped that this report will be used to address issues in the Shire. Recommendations from the report will be presented to a public forum, at which time the public will have the opportunity to make additional recommendations and prioritise the forum recommendations. It is anticipated that prioritised recommendations will significantly contribute towards a mandate for addressing issues raised by the report.