Please confirm all of the Response Schedules A - G have been completed and submitted with your response.

Question:
1. What data or evidence does Council currently have on:

* Extent of biodiversity in the Shire - e.g., vegetation mapping, EVCs, Species records, habitat or corridor maps

* Biodiversity condition - e.g., condition assessment of native vegetation, monitoring data, waterway condition reports, genetic diversity, water quality data (current and historical)

* Threats to biodiversity - e.g. weed mapping, control program data, pest animal monitoring data, erosion, sedimentation, development pressures, climate etc.

2. If data exists, what format are the data sets in?

3. The brief makes no specific mention of collating any evidence or data. Is this something Council will provide? Or is that the purpose of some of the consultation?

Answered on 01/Dec/2025 10:30 AM:


Council has various forms of ecological data available, but this collection has been sporadic, and much is quite dated. Aside from freely available data that DEECA or the Federal Government has available (EVC data, threatened species, Protected Matters etc), some recently gathered data includes a recent ecological assessment of roadside condition across the Shire which was an action in Council’s recently adopted Roadside Conservation Management Plan 2024-2029, along with Plan Harcourt’s Strategic Biodiversity Assessment finalised in 2024 as part of Councils planning scheme amendment C94malx. This assessment includes Stage 1, and also Stage 2 bodies of work (both available online) with data being collected for each assessment, as well as sourcing data from a range of local experts and enthusiasts.

Council will be able to provide a range of information across its management programs related to flora and fauna and its processes relating to biodiversity threats such as pest plants, development pressure along with climate issues and its responses.

Formal datasets can be provided in Esri Shapefiles, Tab Files, GeoPackage or csv amongst others. Council staff will be able to provide other data in consultation - Parks & Open Space, Planning, Climate Change etc. The Biodiversity Strategy will highlight gaps, and resources permitting, this can be sourced or become recommendations for further pieces of work.

Question:
We note the delivery timelines outlined in the brief, with commencement scheduled for February 2026. Given current workload pressures leading up to Christmas/New Year, could you please advise whether there is any scope to extend the tender submission deadline into mid-January?

Answered on 27/Nov/2025 11:27 AM:


Unfortunately there is no scope to extend the submission deadline to mid-January as it takes at least one month for the entire assessment and contracting process.

Council are planning to undertake tender evaluations before Christmas, which will leave January to negotiate the contract.

The timing has been worked out to ensure that the successful tenderer will undertake development work in February so that we can commence community consultation in March.

Question:
Can you please provide an indicative budget for the project?

Thank you.

Answered on 02/Dec/2025 05:05 PM:


MASC will not be providing a budget, indicative or otherwise, for this project at this stage. MASC are keen to understand the breakdown of consultants pricing based on each of the deliverables and phases of the project as set out in Schedule G – Quotation Form of the RFQ Response Schedules. As stated within this Schedule - ‘Please note – some of the required deliverables may be removed in part or full from the final scope (to be discussed and agreed with the successful consultant at a later stage) based on overall budget considerations.’