Division 3 Disclosure of pecuniary interests at meetings
451 Disclosure and presence in meetings
(1) A councillor or a member of a council committee who has a pecuniary interest in any matter with which the council is concerned and who is present at a meeting of the council or committee at which the matter is being considered must disclose the nature of the interest to the meeting as soon as practicable.(2) The councillor or member must not be present at, or in sight of, the meeting of the council or committee:(a) at any time during which the matter is being considered or discussed by the council or committee, or(b) at any time during which the council or committee is voting on any question in relation to the matter.(3) For the removal of doubt, a councillor or a member of a council committee is not prevented by this section from being present at and taking part in a meeting at which a matter is being considered, or from voting on the matter, merely because the councillor or member has an interest in the matter of a kind referred to in section 448.(4) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a councillor who has a pecuniary interest in a matter that is being considered at a meeting, if:(a) the matter is a proposal relating to:(i) the making of a principal environmental planning instrument applying to the whole or a significant part of the council’s area, or(ii) the amendment, alteration or repeal of an environmental planning instrument where the amendment, alteration or repeal applies to the whole or a significant part of the council’s area, and(b) the councillor made a special disclosure under this section in relation to the interest before the commencement of the meeting.(5) The special disclosure of the pecuniary interest must, as soon as practicable after the disclosure is made, be laid on the table at a meeting of the council and must:(a) be in the form prescribed by the regulations, and(b) contain the information required by the regulations.Note. The code of conduct adopted by a council for the purposes of section 440 may also impose obligations on councillors, members of staff of councils and delegates of councils.
453 Disclosures to be recorded
A disclosure made at a meeting of a council or council committee must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
A general notice given to the general manager in writing by a councillor or a member of a council committee to the effect that the councillor or member, or the councillor’s or member’s spouse, de facto partner or relative, is:(a) a member, or in the employment, of a specified company or other body, or(b) a partner, or in the employment, of a specified person,is, unless and until the notice is withdrawn, sufficient disclosure of the councillor’s or member’s interest in a matter relating to the specified company, body or person that may be the subject of consideration by the council or council committee after the date of the notice.
(1) A person who, at the request or with the consent of the council or a council committee, gives advice on any matter at any meeting of the council or committee must disclose the nature of any pecuniary interest the person has in the matter to the meeting at the time the advice is given.(2) The person is not required to disclose the person’s interest as an adviser.
457 Circumstances in which secs 451 and 456 are not breached
A person does not breach section 451 or 456 if the person did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known that the matter under consideration at the meeting was a matter in which he or she had a pecuniary interest.
458 Powers of Minister in relation to meetings
The Minister may, conditionally or unconditionally, allow a councillor or a member of a council committee who has a pecuniary interest in a matter with which the council is concerned to be present at a meeting of the council or committee, to take part in the consideration or discussion of the matter and to vote on the matter if the Minister is of the opinion:(a) that the number of councillors prevented from voting would be so great a proportion of the whole as to impede the transaction of business, or(b) that it is in the interests of the electors for the area to do so.