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Media Statement - Social distancing for Cumberland City Council meetings

The following can be attributed to Hamish McNulty, General Manager:
20 Oct 2020

The following can be attributed to Hamish McNulty, General Manager:

An article in today’s Auburn Review quotes a Councillor as saying: “the Council does not take social distancing seriously enough.”

For clarification, the suggestion that Council does not take social distancing requirements “seriously” is incorrect.

Our Council has consistently adhered to the NSW Public Health order, Ministerial advice and Office of Local Government Circulars specifically in relation to Council meetings.

A COVID-19 Safe Plan has been developed specifically for Council meetings in accordance with the NSW Health guidance materials.

Measures are in place such as additional sanitation and cleaning. An officer sits at the entry door to the Chamber and manages the number of people entering the Chamber, registers every attendee, obtains their personal details and asks them to sanitise on entry.

Our Council has also commissioned additional audio/visual configurations to ensure that Councillors within the Chamber are a minimum of 1.5 metres from each other.

These configurations include a new view on the livestream, so members of the public are able to see all in attendance and the live meeting minutes simultaneously. This also ensures Councillors can attend meetings in person or remotely.

The Council Chamber itself is 200 square metres internally and guidance (4 square metres of space per person) suggests Council can fit 50 people inside the Chamber excluding Councillors and staff.

To be overly cautious, we have used the 1.5 metres social distancing rule and more than 25 members of the public are not permitted within the Chamber.

The gallery also maintains social distancing. Only every third chair is marked as ‘available’ to ensure that members of the public are not sitting directly next to each other.

Councillor briefings also adhere to 1.5 metres social distancing arrangements.