Cessnock City Council votes to hold monthly meetings on a permanent basis

Council has been meeting monthly (instead of twice a month) since April as part of COVID-related risk management measures.

At last Wednesday's meeting, council voted to permanently amend its code of meeting practice to hold only one meeting per month, with the exception of January (when no meeting is held).

The NSW Local Government Act requires a council to meet a minimum of 10 times per year, each time in a different month.

Independent councillor Allan Stapleford moved that council return to two meetings a month, but was only supported by fellow independent Ian Olsen.

Cr Olsen said it was "absolutely ridiculous" to only hold one meeting a month.

"How are we representing the people of Cessnock properly?" he said.

General manager Lotta Jackson said council had not, to her knowledge, received any negative feedback about only meeting once a month this year, and that monthly meetings have given council staff more time to focus on reports.

Labor councillor Anthony Burke spoke in support of the recommendation, saying monthly meetings had made council more productive.

"The decision to go from two meetings a month to one wasn't one we took lightly, it was because of COVID, but I think the majority of councillors can see the benefits," he said.

"The reports are fantastic - and we are also having briefings, committee meetings, site inspections, and our civic duties, and agenda review meetings.

"It doesn't mean that we're not representing the community - because we're doing other things.

"I think it has actually enhanced what we're doing. The general manager has said we're being more productive, and I'm looking forward to keeping that productivity there in 2021.

"This is a progressive council, and things are different, but they're different for the better.

"We're moving forward, and council should be accepting of that."

Liberal councillor Rod Doherty also spoke in support of the recommendation, saying many councils much larger than Cessnock have one meeting a month.

Councillors Paul Dunn (Liberal) and Melanie Dagg (Labor) were absent from the meeting.

Council will meet on the third Wednesday of the month from February to August, with the September meeting to be held on the fourth Wednesday of that month to allow time for the polls to be finalised after the September 4 election.

Extraordinary council meetings can be called if urgent business were to arise outside of the scheduled calendar of meetings, and that business is outside the delegations of the general manager and mayor.