​26 February Council Meeting Update

South Waikato District Council’s meeting on 26 February could not start due to unruly behaviour disrupting proceedings.

An interruption from an elected member while Mayor Gary Petley was asking a member of public to put his camera away – due to the member of the public having not gained prior permission, as outlined in Council’s Standing Orders – meant the meeting could not begin.

“As I was communicating with a member of the public, Cr Zed Latinovic, followed by Cr Dave Shaw, attempted to raise a Point of Order, which wasn’t possible as the meeting had not started,” Mayor Petley said.

“It’s very hard to start a meeting while your Elected Members are yelling over the top of you.

“This completely undermines the democratic process and meant we were unable to proceed with a meeting in which we were scheduled to discuss a number of topics which are crucial to our community – including the upcoming Annual Plan and Fees and Charges.”

“The behaviour of Cr Latinovic and sections of the public gallery were unacceptable on this occasion.”

An update for the meeting will be confirmed at a later date.