PORT Stephens Council has revised the Code of Meeting Practice following multiple amendments.

In a motion moved by Councillor Leah Anderson and seconded by Giacomo Arnott, the following notable amendments were permitted:

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● Notices of motion by a Councillor must be submitted three days prior to the distribution of the business paper

● Business papers must contain a statement reminding the Mayor and Councillors of their oath to disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest

● Public forums may be held by audio-visual link

● Upon a public health emergency or natural disaster, the Mayor can determine that a meeting should be held by audio-visual link

● The recording of a meeting is to be made publicly available on the Council’s website for at least twelve months after the meeting

● All voting in Council meetings must be recorded in the minutes of meeting with the names of councillors who voted for and against each motion or amendment, including the use of the casting vote being recorded

● A Councillor commits an act of disorder if the Councillor insults, unfavourable personal remarks about or improper motives to any other Council official

● For conflicts of interest, the full form that was filled out by the Councillor to declare their conflict of interest will be displayed in the meeting minutes with any confidential or personal information redacted

Councillor Anderson has been seeking support from her colleagues for public forums to be broadcasted along with the Council webcast to enable transparency.

“Other councils including Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Cessnock and Maitland include their speakers so why shouldn’t Port Stephens?” she stated.

“I believe speakers should be given the option of having their address recorded or not.

“I campaigned at the last election on transparency, so this is very important to me.

“It is my intention during my time on Council to consistently drive this council to be more open and transparent.”

Cr Anderson said that quite often when dealing with significant issues or developments, speakers both for and against would state their case, which currently cannot be accessed by the webcast.

“I believe it is important that the community hears all the arguments to get a better understanding of how and why councillors make their decisions,” Cr Anderson said.

The Code of Meeting Practice review has been placed on Public Exhibition for 28 days, allowing for 42 days for submissions to be received, before this comes back to Council to be adopted.

By Tara CAMPBELL