Port Hedland council forced to delay multiple decisions after agenda items weren’t uploaded online

The Town of Port Hedland has been forced to delay several pivotal town decisions after an “embarrassing hiccup” resulted in a number of attachments for the September council meeting missing from its website. Before every Town council meeting an attachment document, which provides information on the items councillors will make a decision on, is provided online. At the September 27 ordinary council meeting, the council voted to delay several decisions after the attachments could not be viewed on the Town’s website. After the uniquely brief council meeting, Mayor Peter Carter said the mistake was a “hiccup” by the Town. “They had a hiccup which does happen from time to time and unfortunately the attachments weren’t uploaded on the website which they should have been,” he said. “We apologise for that and there were about four or five items that were delayed.” During the meeting, multiple councillors said they believed the public should be able to view information on council decisions. Cr Renae Coles said that one of the council’s cornerstone attributes was transparency and therefore the attachments needed to be available for the public to view before any decision was made. Agenda items up for the council to vote on in the meeting included a funding application for the South Hedland Integrated Sports Hub and a proposed Cleanway Waste Centre in Wedgefield. Cr Carter said the Town apologised to the public who were in attendance. “It was a human error and an unfortunate mistake,” he said. “It’s highly embarrassing and we apologise to the public and the audience in attendance that night. “It wasn’t a good look but we have fixed the problem.” Acting chief executive Steve Leeson said the date for a special council meeting would be announced soon. “The Council decided to postpone considering items on the public agenda until the public has had time to consider the information and provide feedback,” he said. “A Special Council Meeting will be set to consider the items. A date is currently being confirmed.”