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Can I speak at the Council Meeting? Print E-mail

Yes you can.

The Presentations Policy adopted on 8 July 2002 is as follows:
Pre-arranged Presentations by individuals or organisations are to be held before the Open Forum session and are limited to ten minutes each with an extension of time to be at the discretion of Council.

An Open Forum session is held at every regular Council meeting. The Open Forum Policy adopted on 8 July 2002 is as follows:

  1. Open Forum sessions are to be held at all regular Council meetings, commencing at 6.30 pm.
  2. Notice must be given by the presenter before the meeting, detailing specific issues the presenter wishes to address Council on.
  3. The Chairperson will then announce to Council, the names of the presenters and the items intended to be presented. A motion to suspend Standing Orders is to be carried before any presenters are permitted to speak. The time allowed for each speaker is limited to five minutes with an extension of time to be at the discretion of Council. The Open Forum session is to be no longer than half an hour.
  4. All presentations are to be directed to the Chairperson and no debate is to be conducted with the speaker. This does not preclude Councillors asking for more information from the speaker.
  5. Where an answer to any question or representation is required, the Chairperson may provide the answer immediately if he/she is in possession of all the facts. Where the facts are not known, the General Manager will take note of the question, and the answer will be provided in writing to the speaker. If requested, copies will be provided to Councillors.
  6. If presentations are on any matter associated with development/building applications which are included in that meeting's business paper, then the item will be automatically deferred to the next meeting, unless it is the wish of Council to deal with the matter in the normal course of the meeting. In any case, items will be deferred on a once only basis.

Note: Items relating to complaints against individuals must be in writing and addressed to the General Manager and will be processed in accordance with Council's complaints handling system. These items will not be heard in Open Forum.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 October 2007 14:34