City of Ballarat has announced a change to the frequency of Ballarat council meetings at the Town Hall, with an overall reduction in the number of meetings held throughout the year.
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The schedule for Town Hall meetings in 2018 will see 19 council meetings in total, including four Special Council Meetings for budget consideration and the mayoral election.
According to the City of Ballarat website, there were 24 council meetings held in 2017, which included Ordinary Council Meetings and Special Council Meetings.
The alteration would also mean fewer instances of public question time throughout the year.
The change to a three-week Wednesday night meeting cycle was approved at an Ordinary Council Meeting on December 13.
Ballarat Mayor Samantha McIntosh said recent neighbourhood planning meetings were one example of how community consultation was occurring widely following the reduced number of public question times.
“It’s about coming up with different ways of consulting, different ways of engaging. Different issues we have will work better with different versions of engagement,” Cr McIntosh said.
“What it has the potential to provide is a whole meeting every three weeks specifically for councillors to discuss strategic matters in depth.
“We want to know councillors are having the appropriate forums as well, for them to be able to be familiar with the information and ask for further details.”
Council voted 7-2 in favour of the new meeting frequency in December, with Cr McIntosh and councillor Grant Tillett voting against it. Cr McIntosh told The Courier she voted against the change in the meeting because "the community get used to a pattern".