Councillors agree to behave

SOUTH Gippsland Shire councillors can now get on with the job of governing after signing a code of conduct they all agreed on, last Wednesday.

Council held yet another meeting to discuss the code, after points raised in the code the previous week were deemed unclear.

Council will bear the costs incurred should it seek a review by the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) of a decision made by a Councillor Code of Conduct investigating a complaint against a councillor. That is unless VCAT otherwise orders.

“But if a councillor wants to appeal that decision, we have made it clear the councillor will pay for his own legal representation,” Cr Lorraine Brunt said.

Such panel hearings involving the previous council cost council $39,670.

Cr Don Hill wanted to rescind the code adopted by council the previous week but Cr Brunt said doing so would mean council have to wait three months before discuss the matter and that would be too late for meeting the deadline for signing the code – four months after the council election.

Cr Hill said no councillor should be taken to a panel hearing without a “very valid reason”.

All councillors voted for the code.

Done deal: South Gippsland Shire Councillor Don Hill (left) signs the Code of Conduct watched by CEO Tim Tamlin.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Feb 28 2017. Filed under Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry