A new policy that would see meetings between councillors and defined lobbyists made public has drawn mixed reviews with one calling it critical to building trust and another arguing it's a non-issue.
Newcastle councillors last week voted to start developing a lobbying register policy in line with similar moves by Inner West Council and the City of Sydney.
Greens councillor Joel Pringle said the register would give Novocastrians faith that council decisions are transparent.
"I believe that we can develop NSW local government best practice on lobbying transparency here in Newcastle," he said.
"It's important, because transparency in our decision-making is critical to building greater trust with residents, and that is our bread and butter," he said.
Councillors have asked chief executive Jeremy Bath to schedule a public briefing session to guide the development of the policy before it goes out on public consultation.
If adopted, the Code of Conduct for councillors will be reviewed to make sure it is consistent with the proposed policy.
Not everyone felt the register was necessary, with Labor councillor Declan Clausen telling his colleagues he could count on one hand, "and perhaps one finger" the number of times he has been approached by lobbyists while on council.
"I'm not clear on precisely what problem it is that we're solving here in Newcastle," he said.
"We are one of the only councils to have an open diary policy, we were the first local government to initiate it, I suspect some others have followed us since then but it started here in Newcastle.
"I think we've done a pretty good job of being transparent as a group of councillors about the influences on us and the way that we engage and make decisions, and I'd just be concerned about us adding yet another layer ...".
The motion noted that the requirement for the lord mayor and chief executive to publish their diaries on the council's website does not extend to councillors, and may "fail to capture meetings with persons of public interest that occur off-site and off-diary".
