The final meeting of the current Ipswich City Council, minus mayor and councillors, will be held on 24 March.
The local government elections will be held four days later, on Saturday 28 March, with the first committee meetings of the new council possibly mid to late April.
Meetings after March 2020 will be determined by the incoming council at the post-election meeting to be held in April at a time yet to be determined.
There will be a council meeting on 28 January, but no committee meetings this month.
Council is expected to go into caretaker mode around mid-February, with new Interim Administrator Steve Greenwood holding committee meetings (Economic Development, Growth and Infrastructure, Communities, Environment, and Governance) the week before future council meetings on 25 February and 24 March.
The mayors and councillors were sacked by the State Government in August 2018, with Greg Chemello appointed as Interim Administrator – before Mr Greenwood takes over this month after Mr Chemello’s move to Moreton Bay Regional Council as CEO – and it will be 20 months before the new iteration of council is finally in place.
Mr Chemello and his Interim Management Committee trimmed the standing committees in half with five covering all bases. CEO David Farmer, who joined council at the start of 2019, also oversaw the merging of council branches under the five pillar structure.
Previously, meetings across 10 committees were spread over two days – under the current regime they took about 2-3 hours on one morning, with the council meeting a week later and often lasting no longer than 10 minutes.
That could all change of course under the new council. The new mayor and councillors could decide to stick with the five committees, or eight (with each of the new eight councillors appointed a chair) or revert back to 10.
During the caretaker period, a number of restrictions apply. The caretaker period extends from when nominations are called for the quadrennial election, until the declaration of the polls.
The focus of the February and March council meetings will be on making decisions to continue the ongoing operations of council.
Unless emergent matters require an immediate response, council must avoid making major policy decisions, unless approved by the Local Government Minister and other decisions that may bind an incoming council.
There will be a significant change to committee and council meetings beyond March 2020 with a new Meeting Conduct Policy adopted by council in December. General conduct during meetings together with conflicts of interest and material personal interests are covered under this policy.
As part of council’s ongoing commitment to transparency and community engagement, a public participation session will be available during each monthly council meeting.
“The purpose of this is to allow members of the community to raise issues relating to council’s strategies and policies. Specifically, matters raised must relate to council’s strategies, functions, policies, budget and/or resources allocated towards achievement of … the Advance Ipswich community plan, or querying whether there are different/new strategies that should be pursued by council,” Mr Chemello said.
Please check the Meeting Timetables in 2020 for exact day and time of committee and council meetings.
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