Council election to be held on 14 Septem…

Council election to be held on 14 September

Local government elections are held in NSW on the second Saturday in September every four years*, with the next election to be held on Saturday, 14 September, 2024.

Voting is compulsory, with Kyogle Local Government Area (LGA) residents going to the polls to elect nine councillors — three councillors from each of Council’s three Wards – for more information about Council’s Wards, including a map of the LGA, follow this link.

Non residential rolls

If you don’t live in the Kyogle LGA, you may still be entitled to vote in the upcoming election if you are a non-resident owner, occupier or ratepaying lessee of rateable land in the council’s area (the non-residential rolls).

To apply to be on the roll of occupiers and rate-paying lessees, you must be: • the sole occupier or ratepaying lessee of rateable land, or • nominated as the elector by the joint or several occupiers or ratepaying lessees of the rateable land, or • nominated as the elector by the corporation or trustees who occupy or are the ratepaying lessee of the rateable land, and have the legal right to occupy the land, or be responsible for paying all or part of the rates on the land for three years following the date you apply to be on the roll.

Use this form for individual owners, occupiers and ratepaying lessees or this form for nomination of an elector by joint/several, corporate or trustee owners, occupiers or ratepaying lessees to apply to be on a non-residential roll.  Applications must be submitted by 6pm 5 August, 2024. The council will advise you within seven days if your enrolment was accepted.

Referendum

This year, Kyogle Council electors will also be asked in a referendum whether or not they want a popularly elected mayor.

The question voters will be asked at the referendum will be:

Do you favour the election of the Mayor by electors for a four-year term with the number of wards reduced from three to two, each ward comprising of four councillors, plus a popularly elected Mayor?

For further information about why Council settled on this question and the pros and cons of having a popularly elected Mayor, follow this link.

Nominations for candidates seeking to be elected as Councillors open on Monday, 5 August, 2024 and will close at noon on Wednesday, 14 August, 2024.  For further information about the conduct of the election, including all the key dates please follow this link to the NSW Electoral Commission website.

Candidate Information Sessions

Kyogle Council will hold two free workshops for people interested in running for council at the 14 September local government elections.

The workshops will be held at Kyogle on Wednesday, 12 June.

They are aimed at giving potential candidates a better understanding of the role and responsibilities of an elected member of council.

They will be conducted by a facilitator from Local Government NSW with extensive experience in local government.

The same content will be presented at both workshops.

There will be one morning workshop from 10am-1.30pm and an evening workshop from 5-8.30pm.  They will be held upstairs in the Roxy Art Gallery at 131 Summerland Way (the Kyogle Memorial Institute Hall).

The workshops will:

Identify the key requirements for becoming a candidate at the NSW local government election on 14 September; Outline the legislated role of a councillor, and how it fits in with other roles and levels of government; Help participants to understand the role as an elected member of the governing body; Outline the expectations and potential challenges in becoming a councillor; Look at the Integrated Planning and Reporting framework, and how councillors work within this; Identify key elements of council meetings, such as the code of meeting practice, code of conduct and conflict of interest.

If you are interested in attending, just come along to the workshop of your choice on the day. You can also contact Council for more information on 6632 1611.

*The 2020 Local Government elections, were postponed, due to COVID restrictions until 4 December 2021, but this has not affected the ongoing election schedule.