Whittlesea is the state’s most secretive council, with more than a third of its decisions made behind closed doors, a performance check reveals.
Data published on the state government’s Know Your Council website shows 38 per cent of Whittlesea council’s decisions in 2015-16 were made behind closed doors at meetings shut off to the public.
The state average for the number of ‘confidential’ decisions made was 11 per cent – down five per cent from 2014-15, while the average for interface councils, such as Whittlesea, put 18 per cent of decision-making behind closed doors.
Council chief executive Michael Wootten defended the council’s secrecy, saying agenda items about matters of a sensitive or contractual nature are set aside for councillors only.
“As a rapidly developing municipality, we have a relatively high number of contracts compared to other councils,” he said.
Know Your Council measures and compares the performance of Victoria’s 79 councils each year, probing trends and patterns, and publishing comparative results.
It includes data on planning permits and how long they take councils to process, their financial performance, and how they deal with road repairs and waste collection.
It shows community satisfaction with Whittlesea council’s decision-making fell to 58 per cent in 2015-16, down from 64 per cent in 2014-15.
But, community satisfaction with council’s consultation processes is at 61 per cent – slightly above the state average of 55 per cent.
Mr Wootten said the council is committed to continuing to improve the way it works.
“We are working to improve our understanding of who is in our community, and how best to connect with them,” he said.
“This recently resulted in the development and implementation of a community building strategy, which will further improve the way we engage … we are committed to seeing these results continue to improve each year.”
Details: knowyourcouncil.vic.gov.au
