At the Council meeting on 18 November 2025, Hobsons Bay City Council set up a new Hearing of Submissions Committee to hear matters covering planning, budgets, policies, traffic and transport. All Hobsons Bay Councillors will be members of this new Committee.

What will the new Hearing of Submissions Committee do?

• Give community members a dedicated forum to share their views on a range of issues.

• Ensure your input is heard before Council makes decisions.

• Cover matters such as planning, budgets, policies, traffic and transport.

• Focus on transparency and engagement – it does not make decisions.

What’s changing?

Currently, Clause 11.2 of Hobsons Bay Governance Rules 2025 allows verbal submissions on planning matters at Council meetings.

To prevent duplication, we propose updating the clause so that:

• You can still make submissions on planning matters at Council meetings only if you haven’t already had the chance to speak at a Hearing of Submissions Committee meeting.

Proposed new wording for Clause 11.2:

Members of the public can make submissions to Council on any Statutory and/or Strategic Planning items on the meeting agenda, where an opportunity to be heard at a Hearing of Submissions Committee meeting has not been provided.

The process for lodging submissions will be explained as part of the engagement process. The time permitted for each verbal submission is two (2) minutes. Councillors will have the right to ask questions of submitters.

Click here to read more about the Governance Rules 2025

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