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Have Your Say at Council Meetings

Speaking at Council meetings is a good way for you to express your opinion on district issues to your elected representatives.  Up to 15 minutes are reserved at the beginning of these meetings for public participation.

Note that public participation is not a forum to request information from Councillors or Council staff.  For such requests, call the Council Offices. 

Public Forum: Including your issue in the agenda

If you want to speak to the Council at the Public Forum (1pm on Council meeting day), this will be included in the Council agenda; please contact the Committee Secretary, Suzanne Syme, on 319-5026 at least a week prior to the Council meeting.  When you call, please be ready to advise the following:

• Your name and contact details;
• the organisation you will represent, if any;
• the subject of your statement.

Do you want to speak to Council in response to something in that day's agenda?

Council has provided a new timeslot at the beginning of the meeting day (9am) for any member of the public to speak to Council about any item on that day's agenda.  You do not need to give advance notice to Council that you wish to speak, and will be given a timeslot on the day.  This opportunity is for a trial period, dependant upon public support, and will be chaired by the Mayor.  This does not replace the public forum at 1pm, which gives all members of the public the opportunity to speak to Council about any issue.

Some points about public participation:

• You need to advise Council of your wish to speak at a meeting 7 days prior to the meeting (unless you wish to speak to Council about an issue on that day's agenda (see above).
• The number of public participants who can speak at each meeting is limited to three.  When there are a large number of requests to speak, the Chair of the meeting will determine who will speak prior to preparation of the agenda.
• Each public participant will have a maximum of five minutes to speak.
• You can bring along written material supporting your position.  Please ensure that enough copies are available for Council (10 copies are required). 
• You can view copies of the agendas and reports at least two days before the meeting from your local library, the Council office or online.

At the Meeting

Council meetings are quite formal, so please understand and follow these basic rules:

• When you arrive, you will be greeted by the Chair of the meeting who will show you where to sit when it is your time to address the meeting.
• If you have brought along written material, please give it to the Chair for distribution.
• At the start of the meeting the Chair will run through some housekeeping matters and will then move on to public participation.

Speaking

• When it is your turn to speak the Chair will introduce you formally to the Councillors and invite you to move to the place where you will speak.
• The Chair will also advise you of how long you have to speak.  You will be timed.  Be careful to use your minutes wisely.
• The Chair may terminate your statement if it is disrespectful or offensive.
• When you have finished speaking, the Councillors, through the Chair, may want to ask you a few questions so that they can better understand your position.
• This opportunity is to formally and publicly inform full Council of your views on a particular subject.  It is not a forum for debate and time is not allocated for this.

Council is pleased to offer this opportunity to everyone and feels it enhances our already successful public consultation processes.

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