Bendigo’s new council will hold fewer meetings than its predecessor. 

The City of Greater Bendigo will now meet on the third Wednesday of every month for the next 12 months, with the only exception being this December’s meeting due to the proximity to Christmas. 

Mayor Margaret O’Rourke said there were a number of advantages to the new cycle.

“The community will more easily know when the next meeting will be and provide councillors with more time to meet with the community between formal council meetings,” Cr O’Rourke said.

“The once-a-month approach to meetings is consistent with many other local government areas of our size and in keeping with general good governance and how a number of boards operate.

“The meeting agenda will be uploaded to the city’s website on a Friday, so residents have more time to read the council reports.”

This meeting cycle is considered a trial for the current mayoral term and will be reconsidered next year.

Council will once again take questions directly from the public question time after that practice was abandoned last year when the crowd turned rowdy, forcing police to escort councillors from Town Hall.