Amendment to Standing Orders

PUBLIC SESSION

At the beginning of every full Town Council meeting, other than the Annual Meeting, and assuming the Town Mayor or Deputy Town Mayor have taken the Chair, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to put their views to the Council in person. At the Annual Town Meeting, the public session will be taken after completion of all elections and nomination to bodies.

To be heard, members of the public must be present at the commencement of the meeting, usually 7.00 p.m. or arrive within the first 5 minutes. The Council will then take questions and comment for a maximum of 30 minutes before moving on with the rest of the Agenda. Individual contributions will be restricted to 5 minutes.

Should there be no members of the public present during the first 5 minutes of a Town Council Meeting then the Chairman may put forward a proposal to move on to next business. Likewise such a proposal may be put if the public session finishes before the 30 minutes period is completed.

The Chairman may also move a proposal to terminate the public session if in his/her opinion the conduct of members of the public is deemed improper.