Council Meetings

COVID-19 and Council’s General Meetings

The “prescribed period” for the purposes of section 747A - COVID-19 Council Meetings of the Local Government Act, during which period the requirement for Councillors and members of the public to attend meetings was satisfied if the meeting was held using audio-visual links, expired on 25 March 2021.

Members of the public are now permitted to attend Council Meetings in person. Council’s Meetings will proceed on the second Wednesday of each month commencing at 6.30pm in the Council Chambers.

Members of the public are required to register their attendance and must adhere to strict social distancing measures (1 person per 2 square metres).

Updated arrangements

Council is mindful of the safety and welfare of Councillors, staff and the public meaning extra precautions and management of the meeting and chamber is required. Social distancing requirements means a limited number of public attendees will be allowed to be in the Council Chamber at one time. All attendees are required to register in advance and scan in using the Service NSW COVID Safe Check in.

Please do not register or attend Council if you are ill even in a minor way. Please also do not attend if you have come into contact with someone who is displaying fever, cold and flu like symptoms.

Registrations to attend and/or speak along with copies of your address to Council are to be received by Council no later than 12 noon on the day of the Meeting by emailing tcampbell@hornsby.nsw.gov.au.

Generally, a maximum of four addresses from the public are permitted on any agenda or non-agenda item – usually two addresses for and two against the recommendation, in respect of agenda items. Where more than four registrations to speak are received on an item, preference will be given to those registrations received by Council first.

A time limit of three minutes per address applies so members of the public should ensure their addresses meet this criteria.

All of the written addresses will be distributed to Councillors and relevant Senior Staff prior to the Meeting to ensure that Councillors have all available information on hand to make appropriate and well-informed decisions. Meetings will continue to be live-streamed via the usual link: http://hornsby.webcastcloud.tv

If there are any questions in respect of the above, contact should be made with Council’s Council Meeting and Governance Officer on 9847 6836 or by emailing tcampbell@hornsby.nsw.gov.au.

The most significant decisions in Hornsby Shire are made at the public Council meetings which are held each month. All meetings are held in the Council Chambers at 296 Peats Ferry Road (formerly Pacific Highway), Hornsby. The meetings start at 6.30pm.

Live streaming of Council Meetings

You can now view Council Meetings live from the comfort of your own home. As of 8 August 2018 General Meetings of Council will be live streamed from the Council Chambers and viewable at http://hornsby.webcastcloud.tv. You are also able to access archived meetings (for the preceding six months). Confidential sessions of Council Meetings will not be broadcast. If the webcast stream goes black during a meeting, this means that Council has entered into confidential session.

Hornsby Council accepts no liability for any defamatory remarks that may be made during the course of the meeting.

View Council Meetings http://hornsby.webcastcloud.tv

How to access business papers

Council’s business papers include the reports and staff recommendations for each item to be considered by Council, while the attachments contain further details such as plans and photographs. The reports and attachments are published on Council’s website nine days before each meeting.

The minutes of the meeting detail Council’s decisions about those items and are published on the website by 5pm on the Friday following the meeting.

Go to business papers and minutes (from October 2008 to now)

Minutes only for the period 1906 – 2008 are available below.

Council Meeting Minutes 1906-2008

For full Business Papers for the period 1997 – 2008, please contact Council’s Access to Information Team on 98476027 or email GIPA@hornsby.nsw.gov.au.

Planning decisions register

Council also maintains a separate register of decisions about planning matters.

Audio recording of Council Meetings

All Council meetings are audio recorded and the recordings, excluding any confidential items, are available on the website (see below). Council makes every effort to ensure the full meeting is included in the recording. However, the equipment occasionally experiences malfunctions and Council cannot
guarantee the meeting is always recorded in its entirety.

Hornsby Local Planning Panel Meetings

Business Papers, Minutes and Audio Recordings in respect of matters determined by the Hornsby Local Planning Panel.