The Mail-Times asked the following questions of Horsham Rural City Council:

In response, it received the following statement from acting chief executive Graeme Harrison.

"Our engagement processes are guided by Council's Community Engagement policy which is available on the HRCC website. Council develops community engagement plans that are appropriate for each individual project - there is not a one-size-fits-all approach for community engagement.

"Council encourages all residents within the community to have their say on a wide range of Council services, plans and strategies. All feedback received is provided to councillors and the more feedback received the better."

Council refused a follow-up request for a phone interview with Mr Harrison.

Earlier: A new group seeking to represent Horsham Rural City ratepayers has its first public meeting on Sunday.

President Di Bell said Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents formed in April, in response to residents' ongoing concerns that council staff were having a bigger say in management and decision-making than councillors, and without "appropriate" community consultation.

"Holding community consultation and actually listening to ratepayers' concerns and visions, and shaping plans as a result, are two very different things," Mrs Bell said.

"It appears with, for example, the Wimmera River and Central Activity District master plan - the processes for community engagement mean our elected councillors may not always know what the public feedback and submission were on a particular plan.

"Currently concerned user groups and clubs are contacting council and meeting with the CEO (Sunil Bhalla) and director Kevin O'Brien, and some of public have called at the civic centre to view the plans and discuss them with council staff - so how do our elected councillors actually get community feedback?

"The staff feed that to consultants and then they release the next plan, but how do our elected representatives - the ones who will vote on those plans - understand what the feedback was?"

Mrs Bell said she hoped Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents would be a place where residents could have their say on major plans and decisions affecting the municipality, and to share their ideas and challenges respectfully.

"If we can bridge that gap between the input the broader community has on the future of Horsham and that which key stakeholders on project control groups have, then that would be a good start," she said.

"Our initial aim will be to take the feedback to councillors, because under the Local Government Act the community is at the top of the council plan, then councillors, then council staff, who have a duty to put in place what the councillors have adopted."

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Mrs Bell said she was not aware of any other ratepayer groups representing Horsham.

She said Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents had not contacted the Office of Local Government regarding their concerns.

"We would prefer to try to do things locally at this stage," she said. "Down the track, if we're not achieving anything I can't speak for what the committee will decide to do."

Mrs Bell did not want to announce the eight members of the committee until Sunday's meeting.

"I will say they are all from the broader community and we are still in discussions with some people to represent the municipality's rural areas," she said.

Mrs Bell herself ran for council at the last elections in 2016, and has been an active member of council committees for many years, including serving as a member of the Sunnyside Park Advisory Committee.

The first meeting of the Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents is at Sunnyside Bowling Club from 2pm. Mrs Bell said the results of that meeting would influence what issues the group focused on and how often it would meet.

Mrs Bell said the group would also work in conjunction with other residents' groups in Horsham including the strategic directions group and sports vision group.

She said long-term, the group aimed to become representative enough to warrant members having seats at the table on project control groups, which Horsham Rural City Council uses to administer major projects.

Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents is also affiliated with Ratepayers Victoria - an advocacy body which meets with the state minister for local government and advocates for sustainable rates capping, improving councils' governance and integrity and community responsiveness.

The Mail-Times has contacted Horsham Rural City Council for comment.

The first of two information sessions on the draft Wimmera River and Central Activity District master plan takes place on Monday night at council chambers from 5.30pm, with a second scheduled for the same time on Monday July 29.

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