Council Meetings

Council meetings

All ordinary meetings of the Council shall commence at 5.00pm and be held in the Council Chambers inside the Shire Administration Centre on Lowood Road, Mount Barker.

The meeting dates for 2025 are:

• Tuesday 25 February 2025
• Tuesday 25 March 2025
• Tuesday 29 April 2025
• Tuesday 27 May 2025
• Tuesday 24 June 2025
• Tuesday 22 July 2025
• Tuesday 26 August 2025
• Tuesday 23 September 2025
• Tuesday 28 October 2025
• Tuesday 25 November 2025
• Tuesday 16 December 2025

All past Council meeting minutes are available via the link below.

Past Council Meetings

Guidelines for public attendance at Council meetings

Members of the public are entitled to attend any of the Ordinary and Special Meetings of Council, which are scheduled and advertised throughout the year. The following is a guide to assist members of the public in how to conduct themselves during the meeting.

• Agendas are posted on the Council’s website at least three days prior to the meeting. There are limited paper copies available at the library and the Shire on the day and therefore you are encouraged to download an electronic copy or bring your own hard copy.
• The meeting starts promptly at 5.00pm and members of the public will be invited to enter the Chambers.
• The Shire President will open the meeting and emergency evacuation details will be read.
• Members of the public are required to be seated and to remain quiet for the duration of the meeting. Other than during Public Question Time or Petitions/Presentations, members of the public may leave and return to the Chamber throughout the meeting.
• Should the Shire President announce that the meeting is required to ‘Go Behind Closed Doors’ to deal with a confidential matter, the public will be asked to leave the meeting and may return when permitted.

Asking questions

Public Question Time is the first business to be attended to at each meeting. Each member of the public will be given fair opportunity to ask a question.

If you wish to address the Council and ask a question, the Council would appreciate the completion of this form (hard copies are provided in the Admin Centre foyer), which is to be given to either the Chief Executive Officer or Executive Officer prior to the meeting. This will assist the Council with its records when spelling your name and correctly recording the nature of your question:

• Proceed to the lectern when the opportunity is presented.
• State your name, who you represent, then ask your question. You may only direct your question to the Shire President.
• The Shire President or Chief Executive Officer may or may not give a response immediately. There will not be a debate on the answers to questions.
• Some questions are ‘taken on notice’ so investigations can be made and answers provided to the person in question and recorded at the next Council meeting.

Presentations

An opportunity for presentations is available at Council meetings. Similarly to Public Question Time, members of the public will be invited to the lectern to speak. It would be appreciated if this form (also provided in the foyer) is completed and given to the Chief Executive Officer or Executive Officer prior to the meeting.

If you wish for your presentation to be included in the minutes of the meeting, you need to email or hand a hard copy of your presentation to the Executive Officer, Nolene Wake, on the day or within 24 hours of the meeting. If we do not have a printed record of your presentation, the minutes will only reflect your attendance and the subject of your address to the Council. We do not record minutes of the meeting verbatim.

Petitions

Petitions may be provided to the Council during meetings or otherwise sent direct to the Shire at 22-24 Lowood Road (PO Box 48) Mount Barker WA 6324. In order to be effective, a petition is to:

• Be addressed to the Shire President,
• Be made by electors of the district,
• State the request on each page of the petition,
• Contain the names, addresses and signatures of the electors making the request, and the date each elector signed,
• Contain a summary of the reasons for the request,
• State the name and address of the petition holder for a response to be given.

Electronic versions of presentations are appreciated and can be emailed to the Executive Officer - [email protected]

Council Meeting Dates