The Southern Downs Regional Council is counting down towards the so-called caretaker period, during which the council will be limited as to the decisions it can make.
All local governments in Queensland are subject to a caretaker period prior to the election of councillors and mayors. Major decisions will need to be made before the start of the period, which begins on the day when the notice of election is issued by the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) – expected to be around 29 January – or wait until after the 16 March elections when people vote in the new council.
During this period the council is not allowed to make major policy decisions, change local laws or enter into a contract greater than one per cent of its net rate and utility charges.
There are only two more council meetings before the council goes into caretaker mode – 13 December and the first ordinary meeting of 2024 in January.
Director of corporate and community services Leon Love explained some of the ramifications to councillors at the council information session on 15 November.
He said the council would not be able to consider community grants or new sponsorship during the period. Contractual decisions would be affected.
Even with something like the dog off-leash survey, the survey might be undertaken during the period but the results would not be presented to the current council.
“You don’t want to force the new council into a corner with a decision made by the previous council,” he said.
He said the rules did not apply to programs run by consultants to meet tender outcomes.
Legislation passed in 2019 also introduced new limitations to ensure council resources were not used to promote current councillors.
