Adopted & Reviewed 19.01.2022 – Gainsborough Town Council

Public Participation at Meetings Policy

At each ordinary meeting of the Council and its Committees there will be provision for members of the public to address the meeting.

The following procedures will be followed:

Full Town Council Meetings

During the meeting there will be a public question time for a maximum period of 15 minutes when members of the public may ask questions or make short statements. Any individual must limit their questions/statements to a maximum of 3 minutes.

All questions must be addressed through the Chairman. Individual Councillors will not respond to questions at this time, however at the discretion of the Chairman the Town Clerk may be allowed to address / respond.

The format for the public forum and the length of individual representations may be extended at the discretion of the Chairman.

Standard Committees

At the commencement of each Committee meeting the Chairman will ask if any member of the public present wishes to speak on any item set out in the agenda for that meeting.

Where a member of the public indicates their desire to speak they will be heard prior to consideration by the Committee of the particular item. At that point the Chairman will adjourn the formal meeting to allow a maximum of two individuals to address the Committee for a maximum of 3 minutes each.

Where more than two people wish to speak the individuals will be required to agree who will represent their views, provided that where there are differing views one will be allowed to speak in favour of an issue and one against.

In the case of the Planning and Development Committee only one person will be allowed to speak in support of a planning application and only one against, each for a maximum of 3 minutes.

After hearing any representations the Chairman will reconvene the formal meeting. Councillors will not question nor enter into discussion or debate with any member of the public during the meeting.