Council Meetings

Ordinary Meetings of Council are held on the third Tuesday of each month commencing at 6pm.

The monthly meeting is open to the public.  You are invited to come and watch your Council in action.  The Council promotes and encourages community participation in the governance of Council.

Hepburn Shire Council’s Governance Rules and Election Period Policy regulate the procedure for meetings.

Council Meetings During COVID-19 Pandemic – Virtual Council Meeting

In response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the State government has recently introduced temporary measures that allow for virtual Council meetings to be conducted.  The change to legislation ensures the safe continuation of local government decision making for both Councillors and the community.

In light of this, Council meetings may not be open to the public, but will be live streamed to Council’s Facebook page. As of the Ordinary Meeting on 18 May 2021, the community are able to attend Ordinary Meetings in person unless temporary restrictions are in place. Please refer to the Agenda for the meeting you wish to attend to confirm the format of the meeting.

The community is at the forefront of our decisions.  As such we have implemented some minor changes to enable public participation whilst adhering to the advice of health and government agencies relating to COVID-19.

Changes to Public Question Time:

• At Virtual Council Meetings, the Mayor will read out the question(s) submitted by community members and provide a verbal response at the meeting.
• Written responses will be provided to submitters after the meeting.
• Members of the public are invited to submit written questions using the Public Question Form (PDF form or Word form) to the Chief Executive Officer by 10am the day before the Ordinary Meeting of Council.
• Public Question time will continue to follow ordinary process in line with the details on the prescribed form and in accordance with Hepburn Shire Council’s Governance Rules.
• Completed Public Question Time Forms can be submitted by emailing shire@hepburn.vic.gov.au  with the words ‘Public Question’ in the subject line, as customer service centres are currently closed.
• Public Question Time Forms received after the deadline will be held over to the next Ordinary Meeting of Council.

Requesting to Address Council

Addressing Council:

• If you would like to address Council, you must provide a brief synopsis of your address in writing to the Chief Executive Officer by email at shire@hepburn.vic.gov.au by 10:00am the day before the Ordinary Meeting of Council.
• A time limit of three minutes for each address will apply but the time may be extended at the discretion of the Chairperson.
• Please provide your phone number and email address so that Council staff can contact you prior to the meeting to organise for you to participate in the virtual council meetings.
• You will be sent an invitation to the Virtual Council Meeting with associated instructions to assist you with your request to address Council.
• For further information please email the Governance and Risk Department via e: Governance_Compliance_Risk@hepburn.vic.gov.au

For more information regarding Public Participation click here https://www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/public-participation/

The Council meeting will be live streamed and can be viewed on our Facebook page.

Special Council Meetings

Council may hold a Special Council meeting to consider a particular issue, such as the annual budget or election of the Mayor.

At a minimum, Special Council meetings may be held to:

• Hear submissions regarding Council’s Budget and Council Plan
• Elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor & Civic Reception

Future Meeting Dates

While COVID-19 restrictions continue, all meetings will be closed to the public and streamed via Council’s Facebook page.

Once restrictions have been lifted and the public are able to attend meetings in person, all ordinary meetings will be held at the Daylesford Town Hall,  76 Vincent Street Daylesford: