At the Council meeting held 26 March 2020 the unified decision was made by Council to cancel Council meetings and non-essential Committee meetings for the next three months. Following the decision the next Council meeting is scheduled for 25 June 2020.
Shire President Paul Omodei said "Unprecedented times call for unprecedented decisions. Our Council has given detailed consideration to this matter and determined that the best response we could take to protect "high risk" groups from the pandemic, including those in our own organisation, is to limit direct contact as much as possible. This is the most socially responsible thing to do in the current circumstances and our decision to prepare early for the pandemic peak is leading by example."
Logistical communication difficulties with remote meetings was a significant factor in the decision of Council. A broad delegation has been provided to the Chief Executive Officer to make decisions on behalf of Council subject to majority consensus of Councillors and other statutory limitations.
Cr Omodei said "Councillors will continue to be actively involved in decision making with every decision made under the newly created delegation going through a robust Councillor consultative process. Where possible Councillors will also be expected to lead local community recovery processes as part of the Shire's recovery and response efforts."
Cr Omodei added further "Council expects "business as usual" decisions to be made and in fact the unintended benefit of the delegation may in fact be that decisions can be made faster than usual which will enable our organisation to be very responsive and flexible during rapidly changing circumstances."
Members of the public wishing to address Councillors before 25 June 2020 can do so by contacting Ward Councillors directly or corresponding with the Shire administration who will then forward information through to all Councillors for consideration.
Cr Omodei finished by stating "We are hoping that the pandemic will not get to a critical point and we trust that both the Commonwealth and State Governments are doing everything they can to systematically implement measures to slow the pandemic spread so our health system can cope. In times of uncertainty created by a pandemic it is everyone's role to be socially responsible, follow advice and direction of authorities, practice good hygiene and consider others at all times. We must band together and get through this as a strong and resilient community."
