Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) adopted a new Biosecurity Plan for invasive plants and animals at its Ordinary Meeting on Tuesday 18 August 2020. The new Plan replaces the Toowoomba Region Pest Management Plan and reflects the significant legislative changes in biosecurity management.
TRC Environment and Community Services Portfolio Leader, Cr Tim McMahon said everyone has a legal obligation to take reasonable and practical measures to minimise biosecurity risk.
"Council's vision is that the Biosecurity Plan's will foster a community that is intolerant of invasive plants and animals," Cr McMahon said.
"The Plan seeks to raise public awareness of invasive plants and animals to increase the capacity and willingness of individuals to manage invasive species and participate in their control.
"Voluntary compliance is the ultimate desired outcome. The Plan uses plain language to give a clear blueprint of steps involved in complying with the Act, and the expectations of all stakeholders involved in biosecurity.
Cr McMahon said the Plan was a living resource, guiding Toowoomba Region's management of invasive plants and animals.
"The new Plan defines Council's critical function in administering the Biosecurity Act 2014 (the Act) at a local government level," Cr McMahon said.
"Neither Council nor individual landholders would ever be likely to have sufficient resources to do everything. The Plan works on a risk management basis to enable the most effective biosecurity management with available resources.
"The Plan also aims to embrace a scalable approach to biosecurity management that can equally apply from the paddock and property through to locality, regional, state or national scale.
"Traditionally, pest management plans have been written in isolation. A significant part of the new Plan is to build stronger ties with neighbouring councils to enable invasive plant and animal challenges to be tackled at a regional level.
"The Plan has been drafted in consultation with Council's Biosecurity Advisory Committee and accounts for local government's responsibilities under the Queensland Biosecurity Act 2014.
