Council

Councillors meet during the year with Environment Bay of Plenty staff and interested parties on matters that the regional council deal with.

Below is the Council meeting date calendar 2007.

Meeting Dates 2008 - January to June

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For a description of the different purposes of Council's committees, click here.

Members of the public are welcome to attend all council and committee meetings unless there is reason to consider some items 'in committee'. If a member of the public wishes to speak at a meeting, prior arrangement must be made with Council.

The Council agenda is a public document although parts of it may be withheld if certain circumstances relating to privileged or commercially sensitive material apply. Minutes of meetings must be kept and made publicly available, subject to the provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

The Chairperson is responsible for maintaining order at meetings and may, at his/her discretion, order the removal of any member of the public for disorderly conduct or remove any member of council who does not comply with standing orders.

When needed, Council holds workshops for in-depth discussion on specific issues. The council is unable to make any decisions at a workshop, and any matters arising from a workshop must be considered at a later council meeting for a decision to be made. The general public cannot attend these workshops.

Before the end of each month Council is required to publicly notify a schedule of meetings for the month ahead. Any additional meetings not on this calendar can be called with at least five working days notice of the time and place of the meeting. Legal requirements for council meetings are set down in the Local Government Act 2002 and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

A copy of the Elected Members Code of Conduct can be downloaded below.