Toowoomba Regional Council, Queensland, has stepped up the fight against illegal aliens with the release of its Draft Toowoomba Region Biosecurity Plan for Invasive Plants and Animals.
The Plan will replace the previous Toowoomba Region Pest Management Plan and reflects significant legislative changes regarding the management of Invasive Plants and Animals which have occurred.
Environment and Community General Manager, Nick Hauser, said the Plan was a living, non-prescriptive resource aimed at providing guidance and tools for the management of Invasive Plants and Animals within the Toowoomba Regional Council local authority area.
“The concept of a General Biosecurity Obligation (GBO) is reinforced, as well as clearly defining Council’s main function in administering the Biosecurity Act (the Act) at a local government level.”
The draft Plan:
- reiterates the basic principles of Invasive Plant and Animal management
- explains key aspects of the legislative basis for management of Invasive Plant and Animal Matter
- aims to implement a scaleable approach to Biosecurity Management that can be equally applied across landscapes from paddocks to catchments and regions
- lays out Toowoomba Regional Council’s blueprint for managing Invasive Plants and Animals within its borders
- explains the role Council will play in both managing biosecurity on its own lands and the approach it will take to encourage community compliance and
- provides tools and guidance to land owners and occupiers to assist them to meet their obligations
The Plan has been drafted in consultation with Council’s Biosecurity Advisory Committee and with reference to the Queensland Biosecurity Act (2014).
The final draft is expected to be presented for adoption by Council in June 2020.
