Councillor Chris Gryllis is disappointed there have been delays setting up community committees.
ORANGE City Council has let its reputation for strong community input slip since the new council came to power in September, according to Cr Chris Gryllis.
Councillors divvied up the portfolios of 30 community committees between themselves in October, covering everything from the airport to Australia Day celebrations.
They also put the call out for members of the public to volunteer to fill more than 100 spaces and give input into areas of interest.
But more than five months since last year’s election, only one third of the committees have held a meeting and four are yet to finalise the membership.
Cr Gryllis said he was disappointed there had been delays in setting up the committees.
“I’m a little disappointed that the council staff haven’t arranged for the committees to get up and going,” he said.
“Orange is renowned for its community input.
“This is the first term [of council] that the committees haven’t been established.
“Usually they’re up and going no more than two months after the election but it’s been almost six months.”
Cr Gryllis said there had been a lot of interest from community members willing to put their hand up and engage in council’s portfolios, meaning the delay was “totally unnecessary”.
Council spokesman Nick Redmond said 10 committees had membership finalised and had held meetings starting in November.
Another 10 had the membership confirmed but only six of those had meetings booked.
Four of the eight committees that have not booked meetings, including the Bicycle Working Party, Companion Animals Committee, Infill Working Party and Economic Cluster Group, are also yet to appoint members of the public.
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