At its meeting on Monday, councillors agreed to defer debate on the draft Councillor Media Policy and a draft Communications Policy until a later meeting.

"A councillor's comments must not cause any detriment to council or any other person or undermine public confidence in council or the office of councillor," the draft code reads.

"Councillors should not criticise other councillors or the work done by other councillors and council staff as this may undermine public confidence in the role of councillor."

The draft media policy also includes the proviso: "If asked to comment on any operational matter, councillors should refer the journalist to Council's Community Relations and Advocacy Team."

The term "operational matter" is not defined as part of the draft policy.

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It also suggests councillors consider declining requests for comment "to ensure they have considered all implications of their response before it is published or broadcast", and asking reporters to confirm with them first what will be published.

The Mail-Times calls councillors directly for comment. It liaises with the council's media and communications officer to seek comment from council staff such as the infrastructure and development services directors.

The policy also includes guidelines for councillors about respectable use of social media. These include councillors not acting "to the detriment of council and not express any views or opinions which would negatively impact on their ability to carry out their role as councillor with impartiality and integrity".

The policy notes councillors who breach their obligations under the code of conduct in their media dealings could face sanctions under the Local Government Act (1989). These sanctions include:

The draft communications policy sets out guidelines for all communication the council undertakes, including internally, on its website, for corporate branding and emergency management purposes.

It includes developing a media release procedure by June 30, and preparing and distributing "media releases/advisories highlighting council's achievements, good news stories and opportunities for community input".

At the meeting, Councillor John Robinson said he was concerned the two policies were "potentially able to be seen as a gag tool".

"I have tried at times to get points across in this chamber and points of order and have been unable to do so," he said.

"It puts me in a difficult position where I look at other means to communicate with the community. My reservation is we will introduce something and fail to comply with it."

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Cr Robinson said the discussion around parallel parking in Horsham was an example of how material council put before the community, combined with explanations by council staff, could cause confusion.

On December 4, council put out a facebook video featuring mayor Mark Radford saying there were no plans to change parking in Horsham CBD, despite concept drawings in the draft City to River masterplan showing this.

"The fact we do it this way I'm sure had an adverse impact on our staff, who enthusiastically work down a path they think we want them to," Cr Robinson said. "Unless we change the way we do business the policy becomes irrelevant."

Councillor Pam Clarke said the communications policy made it "very, very clear the way we (councillors) should be behaving". She said there needed to be more discussion on the media policy, "especially on the social media side of things".

Councillor Alethea Gulvin moved the deferral motion on the communications policy. She said she thought the councillor code of conduct already covered their obligations when making media comments.

Horsham's councillor code of conduct, adopted in February 2017, features a media obligations section.

It states: "(Councillors) have a primary responsibility to be responsive to community views and to adequately communicate the position and decisions of Council.

"Where Councillors choose to do so, they will make it clear that such comment is a personal view and does not represent the position of Council.

"Councillors undertake to ensure that any such comment is devoid of comments that could reasonably be construed as being derogatory, offensive or insulting to any person."

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