Members of the public who wish to address Council must complete the Request to Address Council Form by 10am on the day of Public Forum.
Terms and conditions
Public Forum will be held from 6:00pm to 6:30pm, immediately prior to the Council meeting commencement within the Council Chamber, Merrylands. Public Forum will be livestreamed on Council’s website.
- A registered Public Forum speaker address must relate to an item on the Council agenda.
- To address Council in Public Forum, an applicant is required to complete and return the prescribed form to Council’s Governance team by 10am on the day of Public Forum. Any applications received after this time will be refused.
- Any supporting documentation to their Public Forum address that they wish to be disseminated to the Council if applicable. The General Manager reserves the right to refuse to disseminate to Councillors any material that is offensive, defamatory or inappropriate.
- Any consultants or legal representatives acting on behalf of others are not to be permitted to speak at a public forum unless they identify their status as a legal representative when applying to speak at the public forum.
- An applicant may only apply to speak on up to (2) items of business on the Council agenda.
- The General Manager or their delegate may refuse an application to speak at a public forum. The General Manager or their delegate must give reasons in writing for a decision to refuse an application.
- Each speaker will be allowed three (3) minutes to address the Council with a two (2) minute extension of time. This includes the raising of any questions. This time is to be strictly enforced by the chairperson.
- Speakers at public forums must not digress from the matter(s) they have applied to address the Council on. If a speaker digresses to irrelevant matters, the chairperson is to direct the speaker not to do so. If a speaker fails to observe a direction from the chairperson, the speaker will not be further heard.
- No external files will be displayed electronically during Public Forum, to accord with Council’s Risk Management Policy and Cybersecurity Strategy.
- When addressing the Council, speakers at public forums must comply with this code and all other relevant Council codes, policies, legislation and procedures, including the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). Speakers must refrain from engaging in disorderly conduct, publicly alleging breaches of the Council’s code of conduct or making other potentially defamatory statements.
Related documents
For further information, read through the Code of Meeting Practice (PDF, 419KB).
