Council meetings reopen to public

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.

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.

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.

“Council is excited to be able to once again open its doors to members of the community to watch our council meetings in-person,” she said.

“In 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.

“This is particularly exciting for council, as it will be the first time we’ve been able to share the new council chamber with our residents due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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.

“As density limits further ease, we look forward to welcoming more members of our community at council meetings in the future,” Cr Kirby said.

“When meetings were closed to in-person attendance, council introduced livestreaming to ensure our residents could still access the meetings online in real-time.

“This 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.”

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.

For more information on the Shire’s council meetings, visit goldenplains.vic.gov.au/meetings.