The council came under fire in October for its policy to keep the public out of its workshops and briefings despite recommendations from the chief ombudsman to open them up.
Councillors agreed on Tuesday that workshops would now be open to the public unless they fit the criteria to be private.
However, a lack of administrative resources means they will not be livestreamed and a summary of feedback and outcomes will be provided instead of full minutes.
All information relative to the workshops, such as cover notes and presentations, will be available on the council website, unless it is a public excluded workshop.
This is in line with chief ombudsman Peter Boshier’s requests.
In his report, he said workshop records did not need to be as details as full minutes or verbatim transcripts.
Instead what was required was a "full and accurate record" which encompassed all information presented to elected members and any substantive and deliberative discussion or debate around the material.
Council chief executive Alex Parmley said the main reason was the burden live streams and taking minutes would put on council administration.
"We’re not resourced to do that at this stage."
Mayor Gary Kircher said there were already complaints about council minutes at present and adding them to workshops would "no doubt" require greater resourcing.
"It’s not being used as an excuse, it’s the reality."
However not everything is in line with Mr Boshier’s recommendations, with most council briefings still closed to the public.
Quarterly council activity and portfolio updates, designed to inform the governance team on service delivery and project progress, will be open to the public and live streamed.
All other briefings will be closed to the public by default, however there is a stipulation in the council decision that they may be made public if there is an "overwhelming" interest in making them public.
In his report, Mr Boshier said despite the different terminology councils used, there was no distinction between his expectations for workshops and briefings, and that briefings "or whatever else a council calls the gatherings of elected members and council officials used to transact council business," should also be open to the public by default.
However Mr Boshier’s recommendations are advice for how councils should act within the law, not legally binding demands.
Mr Parmley noted councils had discretion over non-decision-making activities under legislation.
The availability of those activities, which included briefings and workshops, was considered in the context of the council’s ability to provide staffing and resourcing without adding additional costs, he said.
