Bass Coast Shire Council is looking for community feedback on proposed changes to its Governance Rules.

Governance Rules specify how Council needs to conduct Council Meetings, as well as delegated committee meetings.

The community can find more information on the proposed changes to the Governance Rules and provide their feedback at www.engage.basscoast.vic.gov.au/govrules between Friday, 22 April and Friday, 20 May.

Bass Coast Shire Mayor, Cr Michael Whelan said that when adopting or making changes to the Governance Rules, the community must be given an opportunity to provide feedback.

“The Governance Rules 2020 were adopted at the August 2020 Council Meeting, as part of the implementation of the Local Government Act 2020, replacing the former Meeting Procedure Local Law,” Cr Whelan said.

“The Rules have been in place for over 12 months now, and during that time we have identified some opportunities to clarify processes, address inconsistencies and strengthen good governance practices,” Cr Whelan concluded.

Some of the proposed changes include:

• Election of the Mayor – Removal of the provision of lots in determining the election of the Mayor. Election of the Mayor must be by absolute majority
• Electronic/Remote attendance – Additional provisions to support electronic/virtual attendance at meetings where permitted by legislation
• Notices of Motion – Amended provision to align with Rescission motions. A motion that is lost cannot come before Council for a period of three months
• Election Period Policy – updated to include provisions for Councillor candidates in State and Federal elections
• Public Question Time – to provide clarity that a question that has been disallowed will not be read out at the meeting
• Administrative changes – small changes have been made to clarify or simplify processes

For more information, or to provide feedback, please visit www.engage.basscoast.vic.gov.au/govrules, or contact Council’s Governance Team on 1300 BCOAST (226 278) or (03) 5671 2211 or email basscoast@basscoast.vic.gov.au.