Interesting what you find

Sammy

Browsing through the website of the Qld Dept of Local Government, Planning, Sport and Recreation is not exactly my idea of something to rival a warm fire or a good book - but you do occasionally unearth some interesting stuff...

What Councillors and Mayors do

Presently, there are more than 1100 Councillors in local government in Queensland. The number of councillors varies from council to council, but there must be at least five councillors to officially conduct council business.

Councillors represent the interests of everyone in their community...

...The role of councillors is to make decisions, which council officers can then implement on their behalf. They ‘steer’ the ship while council staff do the ‘rowing’.

Councils' accountability to the community

All levels of Government, including local government, are required to account for their activities to the community.

The Local Government Act 1993(LGA) establishes a framework for open and accountable local government in Queensland. The Act allows individuals and organisations in the community to gain access to council planning and decision-making processes.

Checks and balances

As a citizen, you are encouraged to actively participate in local government matters to ensure decisions made by councils reflect the concerns and needs of the whole community.

Checks and balances to make councils accountable to citizens include:

• Council meetings are generally open to the public. This ensures the process of decision making is transparent. The minutes of meetings are available to the public.
• ...
• Councils must consult with the community before making any new local laws, preparing planning schemes and the corporate plan.

If you think the council has not dealt fairly or lawfully with your issue, there are review bodies which will impartially investigate the matter. You can make a complaint.