By Ewen McRae
Melton council is considering introducing live streaming of its monthly meetings.
Last week’s council meeting – which was postponed after council was unable to achieve a quorum with a number of councillors unable to attend – was set to consider a proposal to engage an outside company to film and stream the meetings.
The recommendation from council officers was to temporarily hold all meetings in Melton until June to make filming easier.
The proposal comes amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with social distancing measures making it harder for residents to attend meetings.
Council had already limited the number of people allowed in the public gallery to just six.
The proposal comes amid calls from the Municipal Association of Victoria for the state government to make urgent changes to council meeting requirements to enable meetings to take place online.
The local government act requires councillors to physically attend a council meeting in order to participate in council decision-making.
MAV president Coral Ross said that in-person meetings are neither practical nor safe and the availability of online alternatives makes the path forward obvious.
“Inflexible council meeting requirements under state legislation is a significant concern for local governments across the country as many council chambers do not allow for appropriate social distancing,” Cr Ross said.
“This is an unprecedented situation which requires collaboration and innovative thinking.
“We have been proactively working alongside the Victorian Government to provide solutions which will ensure the health and safety of councillors, council staff and the community.
“With streaming and virtual meetings now widely available, we call on the Minister for Local Government Adem Somyurek and the state government to make this common sense decision and enable one of these options to be implemented as an alternative to meeting face-to-face.”
Melton council will consider the streaming proposal at a rescheduled meeting.
