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Public question time

Public question time is a section of the Agenda of an Council Meeting during which Council may answer questions submitted by members of the public.

To ask a question of Council at a Council meeting, complete the online form linked below - you will receive a confirmation email that your question/s have been received.

How to ask a question at a Council meeting

Online

Step 1.Prepare your question

To ensure your question meets the criteria to be read at the meeting, please note the following:

Only ONE question per form submission.
If you would like to ask multiple questions please submit each question separately.
Statements and opinions are not permitted during question time and will not be read to the meeting.
The Chairman may disallow any question. This may be because the question is repetitive of a question already asked, objectionable, irrelevant, raises an issue of a confidential nature or is asked to embarrass a Councillor or Council officer. The Chairman will provide reasons where a question is disallowed.

Step 2.Take note of the deadline

Submission must be received no later than 10:00am on the day prior to the meeting. Questions received after the deadline may be referred to the following month's Council meeting.

Step 3.Submit your question

Ask a question at a Council meeting

What happens next?

A time is set aside for public questions during a Council meeting at which time each question will be read after the Chairman has looked at its contents and determined that the question is appropriate. Questions considered to be inappropriate will be made available to Councillors on request.

The Chairman will nominate the appropriate Councillor or Council officer to answer the question or elect to answer it himself/herself.

No debate or discussion of the questions or answers is permitted.

The Chairman may elect to take a question on notice in which case a written response will generally be provided within 10 working days. A summary of the text of the question and the response will be recorded in the minutes of the Council meeting.