At Council meetings the Mayor and Councillors debate and decide on all sorts of issues that affect our district.
All Council meetings including any Community Board Meetings are generally open to the public unless there is a reason for the public to be excluded. Council meetings are not public meetings but are conducted in public.
Council, Committee, and Community Board Meetings must abide by a set of Standing Orders as adopted at the beginning of the triennium. Standing Orders are a set of rules and procedures that provide a formal framework for the conduct of local authority meetings and ensure that our system of local democracy and decision-making within local government is transparent and accountable.
If you just want to attend a meeting and not speak, you can. Members of the public and the Press are welcome to attend the public parts of meetings. Following normal meetings, any Public Excluded business will be attended to, and the public and the Press will be requested to leave the meeting.
Members of the public are not permitted to speak at any time during meetings unless invited to do so by the Chairperson. You can also watch from the comfort of your office or home as we livestream most Council and Community Board Meetings, including public participation to our Council Facebook page and, where appropriate, endeavour to respond to Facebook comments during the meeting.
You can also continue to talk with your Elected Representatives about any issues that concern you.
You are still able to make a deputation or petition in an online Public Forum section at the start of the meeting and if you wish to do this, please contact our Governance Team by email HERE or phone the Council's Office five (5) working days out from the meeting date.
Requesting to speak at a Meeting
If you wish to speak at a meeting, you must first get permission from the Mayor or Chairperson of the relevant committee or community board. We set aside 30 minutes at the start of our Council and Community Board Meetings for public participation. This is an opportunity for you to bring matters of concern to your Elected Representatives and comment on agenda items.
Each individual or group is allowed five minutes to speak. Speakers are listed on a first come, first served basis, and as many speakers as possible will be heard within the allocated 30 minutes.
- PUBLIC FORUM: an individual or group speaking to a matter not necessarily on the Council meeting agenda;
- DEPUTATION: an individual or group speaking to a matter on the Council meeting agenda;
- PETITION: an individual or group presenting to the Council a petition signed by 20 or more people.
To take part in public participation we will need a heads-up and kindly ask that you contact our Governance Team by email HERE or call Council to request to speak earlier than 12PM the day before the meeting. If you miss the deadline, the chairperson can accept your request to speak if they think the matter is of urgency or public interest.
When you request to speak please let us know:
- Your name;
- Which meeting you’d like to speak at;
- What you’d like to speak about;
- Whether you are speaking as an individual or a representative of a group; and,
- If you are providing information or requesting the Council to make a decision.
If your request is approved
If your request to speak is approved, we will email you with details of the meeting and an approximate time of when you’re scheduled to speak. We recommend being prepared to be at the meeting for the first hour, as it is the potential time you’ll be scheduled to speak.
- If you would like to use a PowerPoint presentation, please email our Governance Team HERE no later than 24 hours before the meeting.
- If you have a handout, please advise our Governance Team HERE no later than 24 hours before the meeting and either email the information to the Governance Team or bring a minimum of 12 copies with you for distribution.
If your request is declined
If your request to speak is declined, we will try to find an alternate way for your views to be shared with councillors.
The chairperson may decline your request for one of the following reasons:
- The 30 minutes allocated for public participation is full
- The application was received later than 12pm the day before the meeting
- The speaker has been heard on the same item at a subcommittee or committee prior to it being referred to a committee or Council
- The item does not fall within the scope of the agenda for a Council meeting
- The public participation relates to a hearing, including the hearing of submissions in a quasi-judicial capacity.
At the Meeting
Public participation is at the start of the meeting after some initial housekeeping and meeting procedures.
- When you arrive at the venue, please take a seat in the public seating. A member of our Governance Team will be there to greet you.
- If you have brought written material, please give it to our Governance staff who will distribute it to Elected Representatives.
- Please turn off your mobile phone
when in the council chamber to avoid disruption and in respect of those who are
speaking.
- When it’s your time to speak the Chairperson will introduce you to the Council and invite you up to the submitters' table. You may sit or stand to present your submission.
- Please conduct yourself in an appropriate manner during the
meeting. Avoid speaking or behaving in a
way that disrupts proceedings.
- It is important not to interrupt Elected Members when they are speaking and not to speak until requested by the Chairperson.
- Be mindful of the time allocation, the Chairperson will advise you how long you have to speak. Be respectful, if your statement or behaviour is disrespectful or offensive the Chairperson may ask you to leave the meeting. In serious cases of
disruption, the meeting may be adjourned.
- You do not
need to stay until the end of the meeting.
If you do decide to leave, please do so quietly.
After the Meeting
Your name and the item you spoke to will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The minutes also note which organisation you represented, if applicable. Anything distributed or tabled at the meeting will also become part of the public record. Minutes of the meeting will be published on our website and can be found HERE.
