A minimum of two Town Hall meetings a year will be held in the upper and lower Clarence Valley after a motion to introduce the concept was carried in a split vote at the July Council meeting.
Cr Yager said she put forward the motion to the July 17 meeting, was in response to community consultation.
“It is grounded in the principles of inclusive governance, transparency, strengthening of community spirit and a desire to meaningfully engage with our community,” Council’s business papers stated.
Cr Yager said the motion was aimed at holding a forum for open dialogue and community connection.
The motion was that Council:
- Hosts two a minimum of (2) town hall meeting’s annually beginning early 2026 in the Lower Clarence and in the Upper Clarence.
- That Council invites expressions of interest to appoint a suitable external local community member to voluntarily chair each meeting, with an alternate chair selected. Should no one suitable be found, it defaults to the Mayor.
- That each meeting includes the following agenda items-
- An update on Council progress over the past 6 months.
- A presentation on key initiatives and priorities for the next 6 months.
- A generous question and answer session to encourage community comment.
- A shared morning tea, offering space for residents, Councillors, and staff to connect informally.
Cr Yager moved the motion which was seconded by Cr Lynne Cairns.
Cr Karen Toms asked Cr Yager if she had thought about what attributes and experience someone would need to chair a community meeting.
“There’s probably a handful of people who come to mind, no one specific,” she said.
Cr Yager said she would like the meetings to be Council initiated but community led.
“This is something that I was really keen on during campaigning…I would love to have any person whose had any issues to just come and tell us what they are,” she said.
“The community deserve to be on the same page as us, and we should be on the same page as them.
“Two meetings a year is really not much, and I feel like that should be part of our role.
“I’d love it to bring back an old-fashioned sense of what our community leaders once were…I would love this to be the base that we can build on with the community.”
Cr Peter Johnstone spoke against the motion saying while he wasn’t against the idea of holding Town hall meetings, he felt the meetings should be chaired by the Mayor, and that people all have different ideas of what the meetings should be like, and some may state that the meetings were not what they thought they would be like.
“I think there is merit in what you are suggesting, but I think it’s not yet ready,” Cr Johnstone said.
Cr Shane Causley said he believed the Mayor should run the meetings, and if he’s not available the Deputy Mayor.
He then moved an amendment to the motion to include the Deputy Mayor’s involvement in running the meetings and inviting Council staff to attend if available, which was accepted by Cr’s Yager and Cairns.
Cr Toms spoke against the motion stating that from her experience, issues raised on Councillor listening tours were operational matters that only Council staff could answer.
Instead of the meetings, Cr Toms said they needed to educate people about who to report a problem when it occurs.
Cr Clancy said he supported the motion, but the meetings need to be held on a weekend or at night after normal work hours.
Cr Johnstone suggested changing the wording of the motion from shared morning tea to shared refreshments, which gives more flexibility with meeting times, which was accepted by Cr’s Yager and Cairns.
Cr Allison Whaites asked Cr Yager where she proposed that the meetings be held and she said she wanted that to remain optional at this stage.
Cr Cairns said she would be supporting the motion because she knew ‘that the community have been screaming for town hall meetings.’
When the motion was put to a vote it was carried 6 votes to 3, with Cr’s Novak, Toms, and Whaites voting against.
This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 23 July 2025.
