Uncertain future for public meeting as councillors question its value

The meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month and are one of two regular meetings of councillors and senior staff that the public are permitted to attend.

Policy committee is the only place where members of the public can address the council on any topic, with the public forum at ordinary meetings restricted to agenda items.

This rule was introduced when the council resumed policy committee meetings in 2024, after they were shelved during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a lack of business items and as council sought to limit face-to-face engagement.

It appears councillors are growing tired of policy committee meetings, though, with some recently making some off-hand comments about their value.

When councillor Warren Aubin spoke at the July 2 meeting regarding hospital parking, he didn't want it to be misconstrued that he thought the meeting was worthwhile.

"I don't want to make it sound like this policy committee is of any use," he said.

Some of councillors' frustrations with the meetings could stem from the lack of agenda items of late.

At the policy committee meetings in June and July 2025, there were no reports from council staff included in the business papers.

That meant the meetings consisted of just a public forum, confirming the minutes of the previous meeting, and general business.

The latter is an opportunity for councillors to raise any items not on the agenda, and it is common for there to be nights where some councillors have nothing they want to raise.

While some councillors seem reluctant to have policy committee meetings, members of the public have embraced the opportunity they present for them to raise issues with the council.

They have been used by opponents to the Sunny Corner wind farm in particular, who continue to lobby the council to object to the proposed development.

The public forum has also been used to advocate for policy committee meetings.

Stuart Driver, who previously sought election to Bathurst council, encouraged councillors to retain these meetings when he addressed them on July 2.

"As it can be seen tonight, there is a wide range of the community who has attended," he said.

"They've spoken on a wide range of topics, and it presents as one of the few opportunities members of the public have to consult, discuss and raise their concerns with their elected councillors as a group or as a body."

He said it can become "quite tedious" for people to lobby councillors individually, and there is no guarantee councillors will then discuss the issues raised with each other and the staff.

"The opportunity for community members to come and discuss openly topics that are not on agenda should be something the council needs to embrace and cherish," Mr Driver said.