AFTER a year of live streaming, members of the public will once again be able to attend Golden Plains Shire council meetings from the next scheduled meeting.<\/p>\n
Taking place Tuesday, 27 April at the at the Golden Plains Civic Centre at Bannockburn, the current regulations and COVID-safe plan will allow for 25 attendees who will all have to sign in on arrival.<\/p>\n
With the pandemic hopefully almost behind us, mayor Cr Helena Kirby said the reopening of the public gallery is one of the last major services to resume.<\/p>\n
\u201cCouncil is excited to be able to once again open its doors to members of the community to watch our council meetings in-person,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn line with government guidelines, we are able to open up the public gallery to 25 visitors at the Golden Plains Civic Centre, ensuring council meetings remain a COVID-Safe environment for members of the public, staff and councillors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is particularly exciting for council, as it will be the first time we\u2019ve been able to share the new council chamber with our residents due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the meeting agenda set to include award presentations and a citizenship ceremony, the seating priorities will go to the recipients and families with registrations from other members of the public to go online from Friday, 23 April.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs density limits further ease, we look forward to welcoming more members of our community at council meetings in the future,\u201d Cr Kirby said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen meetings were closed to in-person attendance, council introduced livestreaming to ensure our residents could still access the meetings online in real-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis also had the added benefit of overcoming the challenges of our large Shire, allowing residents to watch the meetings from home wherever they may live.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although meetings are now open to the public, the livestream will continue as a permeant fixture and residents who submit public questions, applicants and objectors of planning matters can either decided to do so in-person or virtually.<\/p>\n