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Home Council Meetings Procedures and participation Public participation at meetings Public forums before meetings

Public forums before meetings

Listening to our community’s ideas for improving the liveability of our district and their concerns is important to our Council. Public forums provide the opportunity for members of our community to come in and talk to elected representatives about anything they like, in a welcoming and safe environment.

Please let us know if you need any extra support to speak to elected members in this setting. 

About public forums

Public forums do not form part of official Council or Committee meeting agendas. They will be held on request before Council and Strategy, Operations and Finance Committee meetings. They are not recorded or livestreamed, and the korero (conversation) is not minuted, although actions may be captured at the request of the Chair.

People wanting to speak at public forums will need register their interest by emailing the Governance team by 12 midday the Monday before each meeting.

You must provide:

  • your name
  • whether you're representing an organisation
  • details of the topic you wish to speak about.

Unlike public speaking time, there won't be an official time limit, but time will be allocated depending on the number of speakers attending.

If no requests to attend the Public Forum are received in the specified timeframe in advance of each Council meeting, the forum may not proceed.

Note: Council reserves the right to decline the individual's request if it believes there is potential to endanger the health and safety of others.

Public forum process

The following process applies to public forums as it does to meetings themselves. 

Speaking time

Depending on the number of speakers, you'll usually have around 3 minutes of speaking time. The Chair may extend or limit the time, depending on the number of speakers.

The Chair may terminate your statement if it's disrespectful or offensive.

Health and safety

For the health and safety of all attendees, you must let the Governance team know before the public forum, and seek any required approval, if you intend providing material (other than in paper form). Council reserves the right to decline the individual's request if it believes there is potential to endanger the health and safety of others.

Updated 6 September 2024