Engaging with our community and being involved

Local government is the most diverse of Australia’s three levels of government and has responsibility for a wide range of activities, including strategic leadership and sustainable future planning, while also delivering a range of infrastructure and services needed for a growing Shire. The elected council for Hornsby Shire consists of 10 Councillors comprising a popularly elected Mayor and three Councillors representing each of the three areas called Wards.

Our Councillors bring with them a wealth of knowledge, and while each Councillor represents a particular Ward, a Councillor’s ultimate consideration must be the current and future interests of the Shire as a whole.

Council meetings

It is the responsibility of Councillors to make decisions on all areas of policy and budget priorities, including the level and extent of works and services provided throughout the year. The Mayor presides at Council Meetings and decisions are adopted via a majority voting system with each Councillor having one vote. In the case of an equal number of votes, the Chairperson (Mayor or Deputy Mayor) has the casting vote.

Council Meetings are held monthly, on the second Wednesday of each month, and anyone can view a meeting of Council. A list of meeting dates is available on our website at hornsby.nsw.gov.au/council/about-council/ meetings. Meetings are held in the Council Chambers at 296 Peats Ferry Road, Hornsby. Consistent with the COVID-19 messaging from the NSW Government, and in the interests of public health, meetings were conducted online during July 2021 through to October 2021. Meetings returned to in person meetings in November 2021. Residents can view Council Meetings at hornsby. webcastcloud.tv. Confidential sessions are not broadcast.

Speaking at a Council meeting

Members of the public are welcome to speak at every meeting. Registrations to attend and/or speak are to be received one day prior to the meeting. Further details are available on our website hornsby.nsw. gov.au/council/about-council/meetings, or by phoning 9847 6836.

Hornsby Local Planning Panel

Councillors no longer decide the outcome of individual development applications. Development applications are instead referred to the Local Planning Panel for consideration and determination. Council officers still assess the development application and then report to the Panel. The Panel reviews the application and the officer’s assessment and makes a determination.

The Local Planning Panel comprises qualified people independent of Council that have the functions of a Council as a consent authority to determine a range of development applications that have a capital investment less than $30 million. The Panel also has an advisory function, offering advice to Council prior to its consideration on whether to prepare and refer a planning proposal to the Minister or Greater Sydney Commission for Gateway Determination.

As of August 2020, the NSW Government made changes to the way Local Planning Panels work to make them more efficient and to improve the assessment and determination times of development applications and maintain panel oversight of sensitive and contentious applications. These changes were made as part of the Planning Acceleration Program to support the State’s immediate and long-term economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The changes aim to speed up panel determinations by: „ reducing the need to conduct public panel meetings for non-contentious matters by applying a ‘10-or-more’ objection trigger for public meetings „ reducing the amount of modifications going to panels „ obliging panel chairs to more actively manage development applications (DAs) coming to the panels to reduce panel deferrals and assessment timeframes „ allowing chairs to bring forward determination on DAs that are experiencing unreasonable delays of over 180 days from lodgement „ introducing panel performance measures. Local Planning Panel Meetings are now live streamed and are available for viewing at hornsby.webcastcloud.com.