The City of Ballarat says it was well within its rights to censor parts of a publicly available recording of last Wednesday night’s ordinary council meeting.
The newsroom understands that Cr Mark Harris made comments about Powercor and their planned Ballarat East sub-station which could have led to legal trouble.
Council CEO Evan King says the move was consistent with their broadcast policy and that the Mayor, Deputy and impacted councillor were all informed prior.
“It is important to note that minutes of a Council meeting are the official legal record that are kept and made available to the community in line with the City of Ballarat’s Governance rules and the requirements of the Local Government Act.”
“The live stream and recordings are an additional opportunity for the public to view Council meetings.”
“There are no specific requirements under the Act regarding uploading recordings of meetings, which is why the Council has a Live Broadcasting and Recording of Council Meetings Procedure.”
“All recordings are reviewed before being uploaded to remove any offending content and this is not an unprecedented step.” Mr. King said.
More information about the live broadcasting and recording of Council meetings procedure can be found here.
