Whau Local Board’s workshops will be open to the public from November.
Some of the city’s 21 boards already hold open workshops and Whau Local Board will now join them by inviting public to attend in-person at the Whau Local Board Office.
Chair Kay Thomas says that the decision has been taken in response to the Ombudsman’s Open for Business report, which recommends an open-by-default approach to workshops.
“We are opening our workshops to allow for extended visibility over our day-to-day processes for interested members of the public.
“These workshops are informal meetings where members discuss information and options before they go to the monthly business meetings for final decisions.
“There is no decision making at the workshops.
“However, attending our workshops may give context to the decisions that we make and provide a view of how we arrive at a decision.”
Any closed items will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Chair Thomas adds that while other boards invite public to attend online, the Whau Local Board office currently does not have a sufficient technology set-up to allow digital attendance.
“Due to our current technological constraints, the public will have a better and more informed experience by attending in-person,” Chair Thomas adds.
Workshops for Auckland Council’s Governing Body – the mayor and councillors – are also being made open to the public by recording and uploading video to council’s website.
Stay up to date
Sign up for the Whau Local Board E-news to get the latest news and events direct to your inbox each month, and follow us on Facebook.
