Council Meetings and Committees
All residents and ratepayers are welcome to attend a Council Meeting and familiarise themselves with the way Council makes decisions.
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Upcoming Meetings
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November 2009
Local Traffic Committee Meeting: Monday 26 November - 2.00pm
Ordinary Meeting of Council: Tuesday, 10 November - 7.00pm
Ordinary Meeting of Council: Tuesday, 24 November - 7.00pm
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Business Papers and Minutes
Currently some items and attachments can only be published on this website at a low resolution. If this does not meet your requirements or if you experience difficulty viewing a particular item or attachment contact The Hills Shire Council's Public Officer on 9843 0555 or email council@thehills.nsw.gov.au
All Business Papers, Minutes of Council and Committee Meetings are available to the public. Copies of the minutes from each meeting are available from this website on the Friday after the meeting or from Council's Customer Service Centres on the following Monday after the meeting. Please note that these minutes have yet to be adopted by Council.
Click on the following links to access the latest and archived Business Papers and Minutes for each meeting:
Each ordinary Council meeting follows an order of business. The Mayor opens the meeting, the National Anthem is sung and issues carried over from prior meetings are addressed. Matters are then raised for discussion from the agenda (this is also called the Business Paper). Prior to the Business Paper being discussed, a 'Community Forum' allows members of the gallery an opportunity to ask questions on any topic not related to an item on the Business Paper that evening. 30 minutes is allocated for the 'Community Forum' with a limit of five minutes for each speaker.
The Business Paper outlines what will be covered at each meeting and is available from each Shire library and on this website on the weekend before each meeting. A copy is also available from the Customer Service Centre on the Monday before each meeting.
To find out what will be covered at a Council Meeting you can also call Council's Agenda line on 9843 0130. This service lists all items to be considered at the next Council or Committee Meeting.
During a Council meeting, people interested in a matter sometimes address Council - always on application and at the Mayor's discretion. The Councillors then discuss the matter and either vote or defer it. A formal counting of votes is occasionally called for especially with a close vote. If three Councillors disagree with a decision they are able to lodge a "rescission motion". This can happen during the meeting or within 24 hours of the decision being made. This rescission motion means that the original decision does not stand and the matter must be reconsidered at the next Council Meeting.
After consideration of all matters on the agenda, Councillors may ask "Questions Without Notice."
This is a staff committee to deal with applications which attract some concern but generally can be controlled by conditions. The meeting is held on a Tuesday and is not a public meeting. All Councillors receive a copy of the weekly DAU agenda and can have any matter referred to Council for consideration by giving notice by 5pm the following Monday, or after the DAU meeting. Any decisions of the DAU are void if this occurs.
Are open to all residents and ratepayers. Each meeting deals with matters concerning local roads in the Shire and includes:
- Proposed closures;
- Parking and traffic restrictions;
- Traffic signals;
- Traffic management plans;
- Speed and load limits;
- Location of bus stops.
The Audit Committee is an advisory committee to Council. Its primary objective it to assist Council in the effective conduct of its responsibilities for financial reporting, risk management, maintaining internal control and promoting ethical development. It also assists in the coordination of management, internal and external audit to achieve the organisation's objectives in a timely and effective manner.
Occasionally Council holds extraordinary meetings. These are Council meetings held outside the normal meeting cycle most often to consider matters of an urgent nature.
Task Groups:
Council from time to time establishes specific Task Groups to research and report on specific tasks. Currently these are:
- Finance, Infrastructure & Governance Policy Development & Review Committee
- Planning, Environment & Heritage Policy Development & Review Committee
- Sport, Recreation, Leisure & Civic Events Policy Development & Reviewe Committee