Council Meetings and Briefings

Meetings of Council are governed by the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).  

All Council and Committee meetings are open to the public unless there are items for Councillors to consider which exclude the public. These circumstances include (but are not limited to):

• the protection of personal privacy,
• legally privileged or commercially sensitive information and
• the maintenance of public health, safety and order. 

Council agendas are public documents, although parts may be withheld if the above circumstances apply.

Meeting Dates

All Council meetings, unless advised otherwise, are held in the Council Chambers, Forum North, Rust Avenue, Whangarei.

Council and committees meet on a recurring schedule in 2020:

• Council: 4^th Thursday of each month - 9:00am
• Infrastructure Committee: 2^nd Thursday of each month - 9:00am
• Council Briefings / Workshops: 2^nd Thursday of each month - 10:30am
• Strategy, Planning and Development Committee: 3^rd Thursday of each month - 9:00am
• Community Development: 3^rd Thursday of each month - 11:00am

To view other committee meeting times please download the full calendar:

2020 Council Meeting Calendar [170kb]

Viewing meeting agendas

To see a list of all Council and Committee meeting agendas and the confirmed minutes, follow the link below.

Agendas and Minutes

The minutes are always in draft form until they have been confirmed as correct at the next meeting and are then published together with the agenda.

Printed copies are also available at our Customer Service offices in Forum North and Ruakaka and customer can access agendas at the public library and its branches.

Hearings Agendas and Decisions

Full versions of various Hearing Agendas and Decisions can be viewed by following the links below:

Resource Consent Hearings

District Licensing Hearing Agendas

District Licensing Hearing Decisions

Attending meetings

All meetings of Council and its Committees are always held in the Council Chambers, Forum North, Rust Avenue. Members of the public can't take part in the discussion but do have an opportunity to speak during public forum at the monthly meeting of Council.

If you wish to speak at public forum, please contact our Senior Democracy Adviser, phone +64 9 430 4200 before making an application.  

The guidelines for speaking at public forum can be viewed by following the link below.

Standing Order - Public Forum [66kb]

To download the application to speak at public forum, follow the link below.

Download and save a copy of the application to your computer first. You can then either:

• print it, complete it by hand and send or deliver it to us; or
• fill it out on your computer and save it before attaching it to an email to us.

Application to speak at public forum [92kb]

Conduct at meetings

During meetings, the Mayor and Councillors must follow a set of procedures for conducting meetings (Standing Orders). The Council may suspend Standing Orders by a vote of 75 per cent of the members present. A copy of the Standing Orders is available to view at the Central Library.

The Elected Members' Code of Conduct provides guidelines for the expected standards of behaviour by the mayor and councillors.

Elected Members' Code of Conduct [350kb]

Council workshops

Council holds workshops regularly throughout the year which enable councillors to discuss and debate matters involving complex information in a less structured environment than a formal meeting.

No decisions are made at these workshops and as such the requirements of LGOIMA regarding public notification and access to agendas and minutes do not apply.

Council briefings

Council holds briefings throughout the year to enable councillors to find out more information and seek clarification on specific, often complex, matters. This gives councillors the opportunity to discuss these matters in depth outside of a formal meeting situation to gain greater understanding and clarity.

No decisions are made at these briefings and as such the requirements of LGOIMA regarding public notification and access to programmes and minutes do not apply - however these documents are made avaiable to the public.

The public are able to attend briefings.