Mayor Shattock introduces Open Public Forums

South Waikato Mayor Jenny Shattock has introduced Open Public Forums at the start of every Council meeting day, starting Thursday 17 November.

Open Public Forums is an initiative Mayor Shattock was keen to introduce after talking to people during the election campaign period about improving Council's engagement with its community.

"I had heard of other councils that have informal sessions for people in the community to raise matters - be they positive or negative, bring ideas to Councillors or even just update Councillors on community groups and what they are doing in the district," said Mayor Shattock. "In speaking with so many people over the election period I found that people are keen to engage more with Council, but need more opportunities and avenues to do so; and the key was, less formal!"

The Open Public Forums will occur every third Thursday at 9.30am before the start of each Council meeting day. The session will be half an hour long and has been created to foster regular face to face opportunities direct with Councillors.

Open Public Forums will not occur on the days that Council has Citizenship Ceremonies.

"It is unlikely that decisions on introducing new initiatives will be made at the Forums. However any potential ideas that Council is really keen on exploring further will be taken up by staff and progressed, likely in conjunction with the person who raised the idea," explained Mayor Shattock.

Mayor Shattock was pleased with the response from Councillors saying that everyone was supportive of the idea and is looking forward to hearing from people in the community.

Mayor Shattock reminds everyone that the bulk of our regular Council meeting day is held in public and people are always welcome to listen to the meetings from the public gallery. Words. Ends 295