Mayor confident controversial meeting will go ahead

COUNCILLORS on leave have confirmed they would attend a controversial meeting this week after three failed attempts in the past six weeks.

Lismore City Council will attempt to hold a fourth extraordinary council meeting tomorrow.

LISMORE Mayor Isaac Smith is confident the council will be fourth time lucky in holding a controversial meeting tomorrow night after three failed attempts in the past six weeks.

"The fourth times a charm as the old saying goes," Cr Smith said in jest.

Cr Smith was confident more than the minimum of six councillors needed to hold the extraordinary meeting would be in attendance. The meeting was called for late last year to deal outstanding matters and rescission motions from the December ordinary meeting.

The motions to be debated aim to reverse decisions to hold additional greyhound races, move forward with the proposed ski jump facility as well a workshop about the proposed Lismore Square expansion.

The most pressing item to be resolved is a rescission motion about a permanent business special rate variation levy. The funding application for the levy must be lodged to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal by February 12.

Of the three councillors on leave, Cr Smith said Nancy Casson, told him that she would be attending but hadn't heard from councillors Adam Guise and Eddie Lloyd.

Cr Lloyd told The Northern Star last week that she planned to return for Tuesday's meeting.

Cr Smith said Elly Bird, who boycotted the previous meeting attempt on January 9, had flagged that she would be present.

Cr Bird absented herself from the chamber in opposition to debating the rescission motions because the councillors who put them forward were on leave at the time.

With at least eight councillors expected to attend Tuesday's meeting, deputy mayor Vanessa Ekins said she was looking forward to the meeting.

"I'm a bit more comfortable that most (councillors) are back from leave. We are back in full swing." Cr Ekins said.

She said she "couldn't see the necessity" of the special meeting and maintained the rescission motions could have been heard in February.

But Cr Smith said it was important process was adhered to in a timely manner.

"We have to process things quickly at council," he said.

"We want to make sure the community has confidence in the council's ability to make decisions."

Councillors will re-convene on Monday, February 5 to wrap-up agenda items outstanding from the December meeting.

The first ordinary council meeting of the year will be held on Tuesday, February 13*.

*In today's (29/01) edition of The Northern Star it reads the ordinary council meeting is on February 6, this is incorrect. The meeting is on February 13. The Northern Star regrets any confusion this may have caused.