HOW prescient was the NSW Government in formulating its new code of meeting practice?
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The updated code dealt a lot with how councils and councillors should interact with their communities and the expectations of elected representatives.
And among the new requirements under the updated code was an order for all councils in NSW to move to online streaming of their meetings by the end of 2019.
The order was not without its detractors, with some (reasonably) arguing that the move would impose an unnecessary financial burden on smaller council areas, in particular, for questionable returns.
But the government promoted the move as a measure to make access to local government easier for time-poor residents by giving them the option of tuning in to proceedings from the comfort and convenience of their own homes rather than having to attend the council civic centre.
What the NSW Government could not have known at that time, though, was that lurking in the near future was a new virus that would completely change the way we all work and interact.
Suddenly, live streaming of council meetings has become the only way residents can tune in to see what's going on because, in line with all other aspects of our life, the public gallery at meetings has been closed to help reduce the risk of spreading this terrible coronavirus.
Bathurst Regional Council took it all half a step further at its monthly policy committee meeting on Wednesday night when not only was the public locked out of the chamber, but two councillors also took the opportunity to trial joining the meeting remotely.
As with any new procedure, the test was not without its hiccups but it was important to give it a go because it's not beyond the realms of possibility that this crisis will at some stage require all councillors and senior council staff to dial into meetings remotely.
Whether the public can dial in as well if that happens remains to be seen but we must do what we can to both ensure council continues to meet and that the public, if possible, continues to have access to those meetings.
We're fortunate that technology offers alternative ways of doing things that would have been unimaginable not long ago.
And if that technology allows council to keep functioning even as most other sectors of our community go into hibernation, then the whole city can only be better for it.