Council Workshops/Briefings

The purpose of a Council workshop, briefing or presentation is to prepare our elected members with the appropriate background information and knowledge they need to make informed decisions for the district.

Workshops are part of an educative phase of the Council’s decision-making process and provide an opportunity for discussion and clarification between elected members and council staff.

Council workshops are generally open to the public, however from time to time, we may need to exclude the public. When that happens, we will outline the reason for this (for example the matter could be commercially sensitive).

Workshops are confirmed one week prior to the meeting and where possible the agenda, presentation and minutes will be made available. Sometimes workshops start at the end of a regular Council or committee meeting, which means that exact start times cannot be provided.

You can view upcoming workshops in the Council meeting calendar located here. Workshops that have been held or are no longer going ahead will be removed from the workshop schedule.

Note: Workshops are not official Council meetings and do not comprise any decisions. They are for information, clarification, and discussion purposes only.

Public are welcome to attend a workshop to listen and observe but are not permitted to speak during the discussion.

If you wish to speak to the Council about something, this can be done in the Public Forum part of an official Council or Community Board meeting after receiving approval from the Chairperson. Please contact the Governance Team in advance on 0800 111 323 to register your name. Alternatively, you can speak directly to any of your elected members, whose contact details can be found here.

If you are dissatisfied with the administration of workshops, complaints can be made to the Council’s Chief Executive here or the Chief Ombudsman here.