Administrator Rik Hart says Central Coast Council will make it clear that Council meetings now actually start before the scheduled 6.30pm start time.
A change in meeting practice excluding the public forum from the official meeting means an earlier unofficial start if residents register to speak.
Some residents missed the speakers this week when the first meeting under the newly adopted code caught them unawares and they arrived at the usual time.
While the meeting proper continues to start at 6.30pm, the public and open forums now are held before the official agenda is dealt with.
The first monthly meeting, on March 22, actually started at 5.45pm with six members of the public addressing the council-under-administration until 6.10pm.
The meeting was then adjourned for Mr Hart to discuss with senior staff the issues raised by the speakers.
He returned at 6.30pm and officially started the Council meeting.
The Council adopted a new code of meeting practice in February which reduced Council meetings to once a month and excised the forums from the formal meeting.
The only way residents were aware of the new time was to have read the new Code of Meeting Practice and the new Public Forum Policy or have checked the Council website which was only updated on the day of the meeting.
People have until 10am on the day of a meeting to register to speak.
This reporter tried to read the Code of Meeting Practice for this story but the document would not open or download from Council’s website.
Numerous attempts were met with “504 – Gateway Timeout”.
Merilyn Vale