Landholders in Nobby will be targeted by Toowoomba Regional Council’s Biosecurity Surveillance Program in the 2024/25 financial year.

Nobby in one of six places in the region to be selected as a priority surveillance area for the upcoming year, alongside Athol, Gilla, Douglas, Malling and Dunmore.

Council’s Environment and Community Committee last week endorsed the 2024/25 Biosecurity Surveillance Program.

The 12-month program covers Council’s legislative requirements to monitor compliance with the Biosecurity Act 2014 that ensures the management of prohibited and restricted biosecurity matter, or more broadly, invasive plants and animals.

Individual properties across the Region are selected for compliance monitoring based on the observable presence of invasive biosecurity matter or as a result of a complaint raised with Council.

A majority of properties, 70 per cent or greater, within the identified priority surveillance localities will be inspected to confirm the presence and extent of invasive biosecurity matter.

In addition, all properties that are inspected for this purpose will be monitored for compliance.

Council will make every effort to contact a property owner or occupier to gain their permission to enter the site if it is necessary to inspect the property.

A report presented to councillors noted Council’s authorised officers have never been required to exercise authority to enter a place without the permission of the occupier of the property.

“Agreement is always sought and has always been forthcoming in recent experience,” the report said.

Since 2014/15, many places have in the local district have already been priority surveillance areas, including Cambooya in 2023/24, Greenmount in 2022/23, Wyreema in 2021/22 and Westbrook in 2017/18.

This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 20 June 2024.