Have your say at Council Meetings

Public Question Time

The Shire encourages public participation from all members of our community. 

Here are some important things to remember when you prepare and deliver your question to Council:

• Please ensure your question is clear and concise.
• Ensure your question does not include a preamble, statement or personal opinion.
• Ensure your question is not of an offensive nature to any member of the public, the Council or employee of the Shire. 
• If you are unable to attend the meeting, you may nominate another person to ask your question on your behalf. 
• Questions may be limited to two per person if there are a number of people wishing to ask questions. 
• The Presiding Member may nominate a Shire Officer to answer the question and may also determine that any complex questions be 'taken on notice' and answered in writing. Responses to questions taken on notice will be included in the agenda of the next Ordinary Council Meeting. 

In a commitment to open and transparent engagement, we endeavour to address all public questions submitted with prior notice during the Council meeting. To balance this commitment with the need to provide informed and accurate responses, where a question is received without prior notice, it will be taken on notice and a response will be provided in the agenda for the following meeting.

A summary of each question asked and the response given will be included in the minutes of the meeting.  

All Ordinary Council Meetings are livestreamed and recorded here Shire of Augusta Margaret River - YouTube 

If you wish to ask a question, please complete the form below.  

Deputations

A deputation is a verbal presentation by any member of the public regarding an item listed on the agenda. Giving a deputation allows the community to express their thoughts and views on matters before Council. 

Below are a few things to remember about deputations:

• A deputation must be requested in advance of the meeting and approved by the Presiding Member. 
• Each deputation will have a maximum of five minutes.
• Deputations may not be of an offensive nature and may be terminated if the Presiding Member deems it necessary. 
• Please be prepared to answer questions from the Council. 

All Ordinary Council Meetings are livestreamed and recorded here Shire of Augusta Margaret River - YouTube 

Please submit your request by 5pm the day prior to the meeting. Requests are considered in the order they are received.

If you wish to request a deputation, please complete the form below.

Petition

A petition is a request for action from the community. It informs Council in a public way of the views of a section of the community and serves as a means of placing community concerns before Council.

The subject of a petition must be a matter on which Council has the power to act, i.e. a matter that can be dealt with by the local government. For example, a petition requesting improvements to the power supply cannot be presented to Council, as this is a State Government responsibility.

The Shire will only accept petitions from electors of the district. An elector is a person who owns or occupies rateable property within the Shire and is eligible to vote in local and State elections.

A petition received by a Member of Council or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is to be presented to the next ordinary Council meeting.

Withdrawal from or change to petition

Petitioners may contact the CEO if they wish to withdraw from this petition or change their comment.

Protection of personal information

The names and signatures of those who signed a petition will be regarded as personal information. 

While the minutes of Council meetings are publicly available, only the subject and summary information of any petition tabled will be recorded in a report. Therefore, that part of a petition containing private information may not be provided upon a simple request and would be subject to Freedom Of Information (FOI) assessment.

Other ways to have your say

Your Say – the Shire’s Community Engagement Platform

The Shire's online consultation hub Your Say - Augusta Margaret River, is designed to support our community to shape Augusta Margaret River's future through feedback on issues and specific projects.

Your Say is regularly updated with project information, so be sure to check in regularly and have your say on issues that affect you. 

Feedback, compliments and complaints

We appreciate your feedback to improve the way we do business. 

You can submit feedback via our online feedback form, or contact our Customer Service Team on 08 9780 5255.

More information and contact

For more information contact the Shire’s Governance Officer on (08) 9780 5205 or email [email protected].