Council meetings

Council & Infrastructure / About Council & Councillors / Council meetings

In This Section

Council meetings

Bega Valley Shire Council meetings are held every three weeks with the exceptions in January, April, July and December.

The meetings start at 2pm and are held in the Council Chambers (Biamanga Room) at the Bega Valley Commemorative Civic Centre Zingel Place Bega, to conisder and resolve on the matters set out in the Agenda.

Important Information – COVID-19

Council Meetings, Public Forums and Presentations

In July 2020, amendments to the Local Government Act were introduced for the process of holding formal Council meetings to ensure Council meets Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order 2021 (the Public Health Order) requirements in light of the COVID-19 Virus. More information about the current PHO is available here COVID-19 What you can and can't do under the rules | NSW Government

In March 2021, further amendments to the Local Government Act were introduced, namely:

The prescribed period allowed for a Council Meeting to be held using audio-visual links expires on 25 March 2021.
Amendments for Councils to permit individual (but not all) Councillors to attend meetings by audio-visual link will expire on 31 December 2021.
From 26 March 2021, Councils are required to permit members of the public to attend meetings in person subject to the requirements of any Public Health Order in force at the time and social distancing requirements.

A temporary addendum to Council’s Code of Meeting Practice has been developed to cover these changes and is available here.

Specifically:

Council Meetings

From 26 March 2021, Council Meetings will be held face to face in the Council Chambers.

Council Meetings will also continue to be live streamed, recorded and archived on Council’s website.

Visit our streaming page to watch meetings live and view archived meetings.

For the purposes of Council Meetings, the Public Gallery is open, subject to the requirements of any Public Health Order in force at the time of the meeting and social distancing requirements, noting this may change with minimal notice and frequently.

Council can limit the number of members of the public attending meetings to comply with the Public Health Order and to ensure appropriate social distancing.

Members of the public attending meetings must comply with compulsory conditions of entry:

All attendees must sign in on entry to the venue using the QR code displayed for the purposes of contact tracing.
As a precautionary measure, anyone who is unwell or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms is not permitted in the venue. Anyone who presents unwell or with these symptoms must leave the premises immediately.
Anyone who has been in close contact with anyone who is under investigation or in self-isolation in relation to COVID-19 virus in the past 14 days is not permitted in the venue.
Anyone who is currently under any form of self-isolation as the result of an order of any government authority or as the result of a recommendation of a health professional is not permitted in the venue.
Anyone who is awaiting results from a COVID-19 test is not permitted in the venue.

Public Forums

From 26 March 2021, Public Forums will be held face to face in the Council Chambers.

Public Forums will also continue to be live streamed, recorded and archived on Council’s website.

Visit our streaming page to watch meetings live and view archived meetings.

For the purposes of Public Forums, the Public Gallery is open, subject to the requirements of any Public Health Order in force at the time of the meeting and social distancing requirements, noting this may change with minimal notice and frequently.

Council can limit the number of members of the public attending Public Forums to comply with the Public Health Order and to ensure appropriate social distancing.

Members of the public attending Public Forums must comply with compulsory conditions of entry:

All attendees must sign in on entry to the venue using the QR code displayed for the purposes of contact tracing.
As a precautionary measure, anyone who is unwell or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms is not permitted in the venue. Anyone who presents unwell or with these symptoms must leave the premises immediately.
Anyone who has been in close contact with anyone who is under investigation or in self-isolation in relation to COVID-19 virus in the past 14 days is not permitted in the venue.
Anyone who is currently under any form of self-isolation as the result of an order of any government authority or as the result of a recommendation of a health professional is not permitted in the venue.
Anyone who is awaiting results from a COVID-19 test is not permitted in the venue.

The option to present at a Public Forum via audio-visual link will remain.

To speak at a Public Forum, a person must first make and application to the Council in the approved form, which is available on Council’s website

Submissions must be received by 4.00pm on the day prior to the Council meeting date.

All other requirements as per Clause 4 of Council’s Code of Meeting Practice in relation to Public Forums apply.

In the event of technical difficulties preventing live streaming or submissions via an online meeting, the following will apply:

There will still be the opportunity to provide a public forum submission, which will be circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting.
Submissions can be written or video file, and must accompany the online form which must be received by 4.00pm on the day prior to the Council meeting date
Questions from Councillors will be facilitated by Executive Officers to submitters by 5pm the day prior to the Council Meeting.
Responses are encouraged by 11am the following day.
Submissions will be made publicly available on Council’s website by 5:00pm on the Friday following the Council Meeting day at http://begavalley.infocouncil.biz/

Presentations to Council

Presentations to Council will continue to only be available via audio-visual link.

Community organisations, clubs and groups and/or individuals may apply to present to Councillors on their activities or items of community interest.

Presentations to Councillors will be arranged on Wednesday of non-Council meeting weeks. A maximum of 15 minutes will be allowed for the presentation. Councillors may address questions to the presenter following the presentation.

Presenters can send information via email, in writing or in the form of a video file, for distribution to Councillors.

Any Presentation material will be published on Council’s website.

Requests for Presentations to Council can be made by contacting the Executive Officers via email execassist@begavalley.nsw.gov.au