The council's draft Open Space Strategy was placed on public exhibition in June, while the draft City to River master plan was placed on exhibition earlier this month.

User groups have expressed concerns they might have to relocate if the City to River plan is approved in its current form.

At the council's July meeting on Monday night, Councillor David Grimble moved a notice of motion to extend the public exhibition and public submission period of both plans to August 30.

"The community has spoken loud and clear that they want more time to view these documents and understand the complexity of them," Cr Grimble said.

"(The plans) were driven from senior council officers and consultants from the top down. The best plans are built from the community up.

"We missed a fundamental step here. I can't change or rectify that, I can only ask the community to tell us what's good or bad about the plan."

Cr Grimble said he had been contacted by sporting groups who had expressed their disappointment in "the lack of consolation early on in the process".

"Some of the key correspondence we will receive will be from those groups asking where their future is in all this," he said.

Cr Pam Clarke said she supported Cr Grimble's motion.

"This (City to River master plan) really is an unprecedented document and I can understand why the community needs a lot more time to digest it," she said.

"We need to keep reiterating to people that this is a 20-year visionary plan. There are some things in it that I disagree with, and there are some things that I love, and that's what we want to hear from the community."

Cr Grimble's motion was passed unanimously.

This wasn't the first time Horsham councillors expressed concern about the time period in which the public could comment on the draft City to River master plan.

At June's council meeting, Councillor John Robinson signalled his intent to raise a recision motion to prevent the plan from going out on public exhibition.

Horsham Mayor Mark Radford called a special council meeting on July 3 to discuss the motion, however Cr Robinson was unable to attend due to a prior specialist appointment.

Cr Grimble moved the motion in his absence and it was defeated, four votes to two.

Cr Robinson signalled his intent on July 1 to "step aside" from his council duties until the City to River plan was resolved.

However, Cr Robinson attended Monday night's meeting where he reiterated his concern for the future of user groups and businesses affected by the plan.

Related:

New group Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents had its first public meeting on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by about 60 people, and no Horsham councillors or officers were present.

Three motions were moved and passed at the meeting. They were:

Group president Di Bell said the motions were sent to all Horsham councillors and the council's chief executive Sunil Bhalla prior to Monday night's meeting.

"I was hoping one of the councillors would have moved an amendment to Cr Grimble's motion to make it to the end of September," she said.

"That would have shown that they had really heard us. This is a step in the right direction, but for the City to River plan, it isn't enough time. It's important for (the council) to know that we're not opposing them, we're there to make sure the community's views are heard."

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