The Council would like to clear up some confusion about the restriction on numbers at our three public meetings on rates, which start next week.

As we’ve mentioned previously, the restrictions are necessary under Covid-19 rules for attending venues – people must be seated, spaced 1 metre apart and be masked. Elected officials and council officials must remain at least 2 metres away from the public.

The registration process that people must go through to attend is also for Covid-19 reasons – we need to keep a list of contact details. It allows us to manage capacity within these parameters at each venue and to communicate directly with people, should anything change.

The choice of venues – Greytown Town Hall, Anzac Hall and Martinborough Town Hall – were to keep costs down, as these are Council owned venues. The Greytown Town Hall will take no more than 60 ratepayers, even if the two spaces within it are joined, because of social distancing. Other venues were considered but were less suitable for various reasons, including acoustics in a socially spaced setting. The Greytown date (November 2) coincides with the Melbourne Cup, so some potential venues were unavailable.

Registrants who are unsuccessful will not be advised; however, this isn’t a risk at this stage as all venues are under-subscribed.

All registrations will close off two days before the event. Please click here if you wish to register.