Council and committee meetings

If you want to attend a meeting and not speak, you can. All Council and committee meetings are open to the public unless the meeting resolves to exclude the public.

Most Council and committee meetings are held at our Wellington offices, 100 Cuba Street, Te Aro. Please check the meeting schedule to confirm the meeting location.

You can also join the meeting by audio-visual connection, via Microsoft Teams. The link for each meeting can be found on the relevant meeting entry on the meetings calendar.

View up to date details for all our meetings, including meeting locations

All meetings, except for the inaugural Council meeting of each triennium and when Council or a committee is sitting as a hearing body, have time set aside for public participation. This is an opportunity for the public to bring matters of concern to the attention of Councillors and to comment on agenda items.

To speak at a Council, Civil Defence Emergency Management Group, or Wellington Regional Leadership Committee meeting, you must address an item listed on the meeting’s agenda. For all other meetings you can speak to an item on the agenda, or on a subject relevant to that committee.

To take part in public participation, or present a petition, you must submit your request to Democratic Services by midday on the working day before the day of the meeting.

When you apply please let us know:

• Your name, and the name of your organisation (if you’re speaking on behalf of an organisation)
• Which meeting you’d like to speak at
• What you’d like to speak about (including the meeting agenda item, if relevant)
• Whether to wish to speak to the meeting remotely (see below)
• Whether you wish to include a presentation as part of your speaking time (see below)
• Your contact details.

Please send your request to:

Democratic Services

Email: democratic.services@gw.govt.nz

You are welcome to speak at a meeting remotely via Microsoft Teams, subject to the link’s quality. If you wish to speak to at a Council or committee meeting, please let us know in your request to speak at a meeting.

On the day of the meeting please arrive at least 10 minutes before the start of the meeting.

Please provide Democratic Services any presentations as a single electronic document (preferably in PowerPoint form) by midday on the working day before the day of the meeting. Please note that we are not able to accept external devices (such as USB). If you are speaking remotely and have a presentation, you will need to share your own screen to enable you to manage your presentation.

If you wish to table any supporting documents, please provide an electronic copy to Democratic Services. This will be circulated to members prior to the meeting.

Public participation is at the start of the meeting after some initial meeting procedures.

Individuals and persons speaking on behalf of organisations and groups may speak for up to five minutes. A further five minutes is allocated to the Council and committee members to ask the speaker/s questions.

Your name and the item you spoke to will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The minutes also note which organisation you represented, if applicable. Anything distributed or tabled at the meeting will also become part of the public record.

For further information on speaking at a Council or committee meeting, please refer to Section 4 – Public Input at Meetings of Council’s Standing Orders:

Greater Wellington Standing Orders

Read more here

date_range Published 20 Dec 2022

Download now (PDF 4.2 MB) get_app