THE CITY of Whittlesea’s new public transparency policy is seeking residential feedback to help guide council on what information should be publicly available to the community.
The policy, last updated in 2020, is a requirement under the Local Government Act 2020, and will be accessible for residents to view and submit feedback.
Chair administrator Lydia Wilson said council was aware of the importance of transparency and aimed to provide as much information to the public as possible.
“We know that to build trust with the community we need to continue to be open and transparent in decision-making,” she said.
“We have almost halved the number of confidential items heard at council meetings from 8.15 per cent in 2019 to 4.55 per cent in the last financial year.
“This policy also outlines how our community can easily access information such plans, policies and budgets as well as processes they may need to connect with us, for example to apply for grants or permits or to have their say on topics that are relevant to them.”
The updated policy will be available for community input until Friday before being shown at the September council meeting for endorsement. .
