Kawerau District Council takes a modern approach.

The Inaugural meeting of the Kawerau District Council shows a modern approach to meeting attendances by the elected members. The council has agreed to allow the elected members to use audio-visual link to appear in the monthly meetings.

This initiative is allowable under the current standing orders as part of the local government legislation.  Utilising audio-visual links to appear in the meetings has been raised to enable some flexibility for elected members to attend conferences or for family matters.

Despite agreeing to allow attendance via electronic mediums, there was an expectation that Kawerau Councillors would continue to maintain their high record of attendance.  Only one member missed more than three meetings for the previous three-year term. 

There were no limits set on the number of meetings at which elected members could utilise electronic media to appear.  However, the meeting chair had the right to determine if the appearance via electronic means was disruptive or inhibiting the flow of the meetings such as with a poor internet connection. 

The Kawerau District Council would continue working through process issues such as whether elected members could utilise this medium for publicly excluded meetings.

Elected members believed it was about taking a common sense approach to utilise modern technology, which the Bay of Plenty Regional Council had been effectively using for some time. 
 

[ENDS]

For more information please contact:

Tania Humberstone, Communications Manager, Mobile 027 464 378