Figure 39 MidCoast Council Organisational Structure

MidCoast Council

MidCoast Council (MCC) takes responsibility for, among other things, roads and bridges, parks, sporting grounds, waterway facilities, water and sewer provision, community services, libraries and environmental planning as services within the Local Government Area. The organisational structure of MCC is illustrated in Figure 39.

Figure 39 MidCoast Council Organisational Structure

The Manning River ECMP will be administered internally by the Natural Systems Team of Council and direct implementation of different actions will primarily be through teams in the Liveable Communities Directorate and the Infrastructure and Engineering Directorate.

MidCoast Council (MCC) presently has an income of approximately $270M per annum with around 60% coming from general rates. MCC commonly uses rates revenue to leverage additional funding from external grant programs.

MCC’s rate revenue includes an environmental rate which raises approximately $4M per year. This funds the Natural Systems team which will administer the Manning River ECMP and is the primary funding mechanism for delivery of actions in the program.

A total annual contribution of approximately $250,000 per annum has been allocated from the environmental rate for either direct expenditure or as a contribution to leverage grant funding sources.

MCC also charges a Stormwater Levy, raising approximately $850,000 annually to deliver projects that address local flooding and improve stormwater quality across the whole LGA. A

portion of Stormwater Levy funds will be applied to actions to improve stormwater management in the Manning River ECMP.

Hunter Local Land Services

Under Goal 3 of the South East Strategic Plan (“Healthy, diverse, and connected natural environments”), Hunter LLS identifies priorities including:

• Improving water quality in Rivers and Estuaries.

• Improving native vegetation connectivity.

• Supporting land managers to rehabilitated degraded habitat including weeks and pests and supporting recovery of threatened species and ecological communities.

• Assisting landholders to manage water resources and sustain productive agriculture and natural assets.

Hunter LLS has recently been receiving funding to assist with implementation of the Marine Estate Management Strategy as follows:

• To improve the quality of drainage from roads and tracks. This funding is commonly provided to councils to undertake maintenance work.

• To undertake riparian works including fencing, weeding, planting and maintenance.

• To undertake bank erosion remediation works, where LLS will engage and manage contractors to complete the work.

Funding which comes through MEMA is not constrained in terms of usage on private and public land. In other words, MEMA funding via LLS can be used to undertake repair/rehabilitation works on riparian reserves that are under the care and control of Council.

Based on discussions with Hunter LLS staff, it is expected that, on average, around $800,000 per annum would be available for works in the Manning Catchment from MEMA sources.

Hunter LLS manages several other funding sources. The National Landcare Program (NLP) provides the major environmental federal funding source for the Natural Resource Management Team within Hunter LLS. Around 1.8M has been allocated over the June 2019 – June 2023 period, with 1.2M of that forming the operational budget (~300,000 per year). Considering the area covered by Hunter LLS, around 100K could be allocated per annum on projects within the Manning Catchment.

Over the next 14 months (till mid 2022), Hunter LLS is also managing federal funds relating to bushfire recovery, including $650,000 on actions relating to weeds, pests, threatened ecological communities, threatened species and fire. This funding is earmarked for the Manning Catchment.

Hunter LLS also administers the Catchment Action NSW Program, funded by the NSW Government with a focus of using those funds for the repair of riparian areas within the Manning Catchment. $80,000 is presently available annually from this funding source.

Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

DPIE: Environment, Energy and Science

Several sections of state government traditionally focussed on coastal management were moved from the Office of Environment and Heritage into the Environment Energy and Science (EES) group of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment in 2019. The functions of relevance to the Manning CMP are presently contained as listed below:

1. Within the Biodiversity, Conservation and Science Secretariat:

• Water, Wetlands and Coasts Science Directorate: Includes scientists which undertake targeted research and monitoring relating to estuaries and may provide an avenue for completion of some additional studies needed to better inform management.

• Hunter Central Coast Directorate: Containing regional staff, largely located in

Newcastle and on the Central Coast, with a detailed focus on coasts and estuaries along the NSW coast from the Hawkesbury River, extending northwards to the

Manning Catchment.

• Marine, Coastal, Estuaries and Floods Directorate: Including specialists in coastal and estuarine policy and management who have an overarching role in the delivery of coastal and estuary focused programs and policy, including the delivery of highlevel guidance such as the development of the Coastal Management Manual and supporting documentation.

2. Within the Executive Directorate, Office of the Coordinator General of EES:

• The Grants Directorate: which manages the Coast and Estuary Management,

Floodplain Management and NSW Environmental Trust contestable grants programs.

Staff within all these directorates contribute to the provision of both technical and financial assistance to local councils in managing the coast. In the context of the Manning CMP, whereby

Coast and Estuary Grant Funding Streams

The coast and estuary grants67 cover several streams, of which the “Implementation” stream is the main one of interest to progress on-ground actions of a CMP. For many other parts of a CMP, which relate to ‘planning’ studies, grant applications can be made under the planning funding stream.

At present, the guidelines for the coast and estuary grants indicate that funding will be provided on a 2:1 basis (State Government: Applicant).

A strict read of the funding guidelines indicates that administration costs, non-monetary (e.g., in-kind) or voluntary contributions from other sources cannot be used as matching funding. The contribution of the applicant and any partners needs to be a monetary contribution. One exception is the project management allowance outlined below.

67 https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/water/coasts/coastal-and-estuary-grants, accessed 27 April 2021