Council and Committee Meetings

For all meetings (apart from Planning Committee) you must make your request by 5.00 pm on the working day before the meeting.

For Planning Committee, you must make your request by 12 noon on the day of the meeting.

The maximum time limit for addressing the meeting is three minutes.

Due to the way that the committee system works, a particular matter might be discussed on several occasions before a decision is made. In such cases a member of the public would normally only be allowed to address or ask a question on that subject at one of these meetings. The committee administrator will be pleased to assist you in deciding which would be the most appropriate meeting.

Where a number of people wish to speak on the same subject to express similar views, the person in the Chair may require these views to be put by a spokesperson.

Requests will be declined by the person in the Chair if they are considered offensive or defamatory. You must be aware that if you make defamatory or slanderous statements this could result in legal action being taken against you because you have no special protection in relation to statements made when speaking at Council or committee meetings.

What you say must relate to the business of the meeting.

When Councillors get to the agenda item on which you wish to speak or ask a question, the person in the Chair will invite you to speak.

Download the request form here.