No further council meetings in the North East should have to be postponed or cancelled, after it was announced that councillors will soon be able to meet virtually.
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Indigo Council was the first in the region to not hold a meeting during the coronavirus pandemic, choosing last month to strictly follow social distancing recommendations.
Legislation states that council meetings can only be conducted with a quorum meeting in person, but Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday that would change next week.
Victoria will hold a special sitting of Parliament on Thursday next week to deal with issues coming out of the pandemic response.
Mr Andrews supported the idea of councillors meeting virtually, after being pushed by councils and the Municipal Association of Victoria over the past month.
"That's obviously not conducive to stopping the spread of coronavirus," he said. "It will be a quick session of Parliament, but a very important session of Parliament."
The change in legislation will come too late for Wodonga Council, where councillors will have to meet in person on Monday, but Indigo and Wangaratta may be among the first to hold the new style of meeting on their next scheduled date of April 28.
Indigo Council was planning to hold its meeting as scheduled, but still needed to see what was contained in the new legislation, if the changes come through in time and whether the council has the technology to meet the new requirements.
IN OTHER NEWS:
With a reduced number of MPs to attend Parliament in person next week, so social distancing rules can be followed, it is unlikely Benambra MP Bill Tilley will travel across the state.
But he said he would speak to the members of the Shadow Cabinet about issues important to the electorate to ensure the government is held to account on its decisions.
He said he also wanted councils to be able to meet online.
"They need to look at the issue around restrictions on golf, hunting and fishing in direct contrast to what is happening 20 metres across the Murray River," Mr Tilley said.
"They need to make sure there is enough PPE to protect our health workers in emergency departments, ICU and at the swab clinic.
"What the government will want to do is push through as many of these bills with little or no debate and more importantly no scrutiny.
"Having said that I want to see the promised programs up and running, I want to see the money start flowing to our businesses that have been affected by the downturn."
