Gunnedah's councillors have decided public presentations will remain part of ordinary council meetings, despite a "very strong message" to separate them.
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The decision at Gunnedah Shire Council's recent meeting is contrary to the Office of Local Government's (OLG) recommendations in its Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils in NSW.
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Council's corporate and community services director Colin Formann had also advised the council make public forums separate from meetings, the "primary reason" being a "very strong message" from OLG.
"Their reason for that is the committee meetings should be reserved for decision-making," Mr Formann said at the meeting.
Cr Owen Hasler argued against the change, saying it would mean adding a second meeting to councillor and staff schedules, and that in "my reading of the rules of the public meeting, it's no different to the council meeting".
He asked Mr Formann if they could "continue with current practice but with those methodologies".
After some discussion, councillors all voted to adopt the OLG rules but adapted the wording to continue their current practice of holding public forums in meetings.
Councillors also unanimously voted to adopt new rules around pre-meeting briefing sessions. Mr Formann said they were aimed at "tightening up practice" and improving "transparency", and that "decision-making of council should be made in the public arena".
In a nutshell, it puts proper rules around what we already do.
- Colin Formann, corporate and community services director
One of the rules is that the sessions "be held in the absence of the public" and not be used to "debate or make preliminary decisions on items of business they are being briefed on".
At the meeting, Cr Ann Luke said it was "a very difficult point" because "that's what our briefing sessions have been - we have been asking questions and having views".
Cr Murray O'Keefe could see the sense in the code, saying "it forces us to use them for information and asking questions, and nothing more than that".
After the meeting, Mr Formann said there were "currently no rules" around pre-meeting sessions, just "best practice", and the model code "in a nutshell ... puts proper rules around what we already do".
"It puts a strong set of rules around the briefing pact. Having a code of meeting practice means it's more transparent because there's a definite set of rules for how those pre-briefing sessions are run," he said.
As part of the model code, the council will also make audio recordings of the meetings available online for three months. This was a mandatory requirement.
Mr Formann said a draft of the model code would be exhibited for 28 days and "submissions will be considered prior to adoption at a future council meeting".
