The Central Otago District Council (CODC) will meet on the last Wednesday of each month, adopting a more regular meeting schedule in line with other local authorities around New Zealand.

Currently, CODC and community boards meet every six weeks allowing for ten meetings each calendar year.

CODC explored two options to move to a more frequent meeting cycle. 

The first option was for a four-weekly meeting cycle. This option would allow for approximately 13 meetings per year. 

The second option was to have a dedicated day per month which would be a council meeting day. This option would allow for approximately 12 meetings per year. 

CODC chief executive Sanchia Jacobs said a core reason to consider changing to every four weeks was that items would cycle back before the council with more regularity.

If an item missed one meeting cycle, it would be just four weeks before an issue was readdressed, not six weeks as currently occurs.

“It would be beneficial to bring things back to council more quickly; although it would be extra days, there would be more benefits in that,” councillor Tamah Alley said.

The community board meeting timetable will be adjusted for the trial’s length to avoid meeting timetable clashes. 

CODC will begin the trial following the adoption of the district plan in July. The trial duration is yet to be determined.