By Laura Michell
Macedon Ranges council has cancelled its next council meeting in a bid to reduce the risk to councillors and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The council is also investigating the possibility of conducting virtual council meetings while Victoria is in a state of emergency.
At the March 25 council meeting, councillors voted to defer all items on the agenda, except for urgent business, to a future meeting and authorised chief executive Margot Stork to introduce virtual council meetings.
Councillors made the decision during a short meeting held outside the council chamber to enable social distancing regulations to be met.
Councillors also agreed to cancel the April submitters committee meeting, which was scheduled for last Wednesday, and the April 22 council meeting.
Ms Stork said she was working through how the councillors’ request for virtual meetings could be achieved within the confines of the Local Government Act.
Under the act, councillors must be physically present in a room to vote on decisions.
Ms Stork said the council had raised the risk of in-person council meetings with the state government and the Municipal Association of Victoria.
The MAV has since called for the state government to amend the Local Government Act to allow council meetings to be held remotely via methods such as video conferencing.
MAV president, Cr Coral Ross said in-person council meetings were neither practical nor safe.
“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. This is an unprecedented situation which requires collaboration and innovative thinking,” she said.
“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 as an alternative to meeting face-to-face.”
