EXPLAINER: Council staff defend controversial meetings

SPECULATION about the validity of a series of controversial Lismore City Council meetings has led the acting general manager to defend the council's actions.

Lismore City Council's acting general manager has defended the actions of councillors as within meeting practice.

SPECULATION about the validity of a series of controversial Lismore City Council meetings in recent weeks has led the acting general manager to defend the council's actions.

Gary Murphy, who is also the director of infrastructure services, reinforced that the councillors were within the council's code of meeting practice to request and hold extraordinary meetings.

A special meeting was called to address unfinished council business and rescission motions opposing other decisions from the December ordinary meeting, including a workshop to discuss the proposed $90 million Lismore Shopping Square expansion.

Community criticism has been levelled at councillors Gianpiero Battista and Neil Marks for requesting the contentious meeting, which has been labelled unfair to the majority of on-leave councillors who moved the rescission motions.

While councillors could call extraordinary meetings, Mr Murphy said Cr Elly Bird was also within her rights to absent herself from Tuesday night's third attempt at holding an extraordinary meeting.

Before boycotting the meeting and future extraordinary meetings, Cr Bird and the five other councillors present voted unanimously to debate 20 agenda items left over from the December meeting on February 5.

Mr Murphy explained two different meetings had now been set: the reconvened extraordinary council meeting on January 30 would address the remaining four rescission motions and the leftover agenda items would be debated on February 5.

"There is no meeting practice provision that prevents the rescission motions being lawfully dealt with before the leftover agenda items from the December 12 meeting,” he said.

Mr Murphy said "the only matter with a pressing deadline” was the decision on the permanent business special rate variation levy with the funding application to be lodged to the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal by February 12.

"I am confident the matter will be resolved before this date,” he said.

Mr Murphy said the public would not be given the opportunity to speak at the upcoming meetings despite public access being granted for the January 9 meeting.

"A public access session is normally held at the start of every council meeting but these meetings are a continuance of existing meetings that have already included public access previously,” he said.

"As such there will not be public access and the business of council will start with the consideration of the outstanding matters.”

Both meetings would be open to the public.