Shire Of Mundaring and Black

The matter involved the Shire of Mundaring and Kevin Alan Black, a member of the council. The dispute centred on Black's absence from three consecutive council meetings without obtaining leave from the council, leading to an application for a declaration by the Local Government Tribunal as to his disqualification. The Tribunal was tasked with determining whether Black had resigned from his office as a councillor before the third consecutive meeting he was absent from, and whether notice of his resignation was delivered to the Chief Executive Officer before that meeting. The Tribunal's decision hinged on interpreting the Local Government Act 1995 (WA) and the circumstances surrounding Black's resignation.

The primary legal issue was the interpretation of section 2.25(4) of the Local Government Act 1995 (WA), which addresses the disqualification of a council member who is absent from three consecutive meetings without leave. The Tribunal needed to ascertain whether Black had effectively resigned from his position before the third meeting, thereby potentially avoiding disqualification. This required a detailed examination of the timeline of events, including the delivery of the resignation notice to the Chief Executive Officer. The Tribunal had to balance the statutory requirements with the factual circumstances to determine Black's eligibility to remain a member of the council.

The Tribunal found that Black had not resigned from his position as a councillor before the third consecutive meeting he was absent from. Consequently, he was disqualified from continuing his membership of the council under section 2.25(4) of the Local Government Act 1995 (WA). The Tribunal concluded that the notice of resignation was not delivered to the Chief Executive Officer before the third meeting, and thus, Black's absence from the meetings constituted a breach of the statutory requirements. This led to the Tribunal ordering that Black is disqualified from his membership of the council.

The Tribunal's final order was that Kevin Alan Black is disqualified from continuing his membership of the Council of the Shire of Mundaring, in accordance with section 2.25(4) of the Local Government Act 1995 (WA). This decision was based on the finding that Black had not resigned from his position before the third consecutive meeting he was absent from, and therefore, his absence without leave led to his disqualification.