The next cycle of Greater Wellington Regional Council committee meetings will be cancelled due to COVID-19, with more regular full Council meetings taking place.

Greater Wellington Chair Daran Ponter says it is important for Council to focus on all the things that are important in the immediate sense as everyone continues to deal with this unprecedented situation.

“Taking this into account, we are cancelling the next cycle of committee meetings with the exception of the Regional Transport Committee on April 7 which most members will participate in remotely.

“The scheduled full Council meeting on April 9 will be brought forward to April 2. Meetings of the full Council will be held every three weeks for the time being, and will only discuss essential matters that require a decision to be made,” Cr Ponter says.

For each Council meeting seven Councillors will be required to be physically present in order to achieve a quorum, while the other six Councillors will participate remotely.

“We will encourage any members of the public that wish to attend to do so digitally via Zoom, however, we will not limit physical attendance,” Cr Ponter says.

Greater Wellington has a duty of care to elected officials, staff, and the public and will take all reasonable practicable steps for council meetings in the current COVID-19 environment.

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