Council
16 January, 2025
No more night meeting for Corangamite
CORANGAMITE Shire council meetings will be held earlier from this year to ensure staff are getting home at a reasonable hour.
Council meetings have been held at 7pm but, from this month, will be brought forward to 3pm.
Councillors unanimously voted at the December ordinary meeting of council to hold meetings at the earlier time on the fourth Tuesday of each month, except for meetings on June 17 and December 16.
Meetings will continue to be held from the Killara Centre in Camperdown, in addition to being livestreamed on social media and published on council’s website.
The motion was moved by Cr Laurie Hickey, who said earlier meetings would prevent staff from having to travel home late at night.
“I think it’s good we publish the change in date as it fits with the other impositions we have,” he said.
“The time will be different to what a lot of people are used to, however, it is for the safety of officers returning – sometimes many hours to get home.”
As seconder of the motion, Cr Ruth Gstrein said the changes made sense from a health and safety perspective with councillors and council officers often not heading home until 9pm after a busy day.
“It’s certainly not unheard of – previously, I understand council used to meet at 1pm in the afternoon, she said.”
“Hopefully it also encourages attendance.”
Cr Jo Beard said the change reflected the shire’s responsibility to staff and fellow councillors around occupational health and safety.
“It’s not disregarding that we haven’t in the past, because we have done the 7pm meetings for many years, but I think that times have changed and we’re acknowledging times have changed, she said.”
“Since COVID-19, I guess that was one silver lining for our communities, they could actually stay at home and when they were interested, or some may say if they had nothing else to watch on TV that night, then they could watch their councillors at the council meeting.
“But the fact that you can go and watch it anytime you want, and that we might be able to attract more people at 3pm, so it’s worth a shot.
“We’re certainly not going to lose anything by it but it certainly will help those that do travel a distance to get back to where they need to at a more appropriate time.”
Councillors will return to the chambers for the first time in 2025 from Tuesday, January 28.
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