Procedures for Public Question Time
The Council extends a warm welcome to you in attending any meeting of the Council. Council is committed to involving the public in its decision making processes whenever possible, and the ability to ask questions during "Public Question Time" is of critical importance in pursuing this public participation objective.
Council (as required by the Local Government Act 1995) sets aside a period of "Public Question Time" to enable a member of the public to put up to two questions to Council. Questions should only relate to the business of Council and should not be a statement or personal opinion. Upon receipt of a question from a member of the public, the Commissioner may either answer the question or direct it to an Officer to answer, or it will be taken on notice.
Having regard for the requirements and principles of Council, the following procedures will be applied in accordance with the Shire of Chittering Local Government (Council Meetings) Local Law 2014:
- "Public Question Time" will be limited to fifteen (15) minutes.
- "Public Question Time" will be conducted at an Ordinary Meeting of Council immediately following "Response to Previous Public Questions Taken on Notice".
- Each member of the public asking a question will be limited to two (2) minutes to ask their question(s).
- Questions will be limited to two (2) per person.
- Please state your name and address, and then ask your question.
- Questions should be submitted to the Chief Executive Officer in writing by 5pm on the day before the meeting and be signed by the author. This allows for an informed response to be given at the meeting.
- Questions that have not been submitted in writing by 5pm on the day before the meeting, will be responded to if they are straightforward.
- If any question requires further research prior to an answer being given, the Presiding Member will indicate that the "question will be taken on notice" and a response will be forwarded to the member of the public following the necessary research being undertaken.
- Where a member of the public provided written questions then the President Member may elect for the questions to be responded to as normal business correspondence.
- A summary of the question and the answer will be recorded in the minutes of the Council meeting at which the question was asked.
If you wish to ask a question at a Council meeting please download, complete and return the below form.
Public Question Time Form
PDF files are used on www.chittering.wa.gov.au for large documents and other resources. Where a document is not designed to be exclusively printed, an accessible alternative file (for example HTML, Rich Text) may be obtained by emailing chatter@chittering.wa.gov.au and request the publication by quoting the title of the document and your requested format.
Or you can fill out the online form below:
Online Public Question Form