What do you think of when you hear there is a local council election coming up?

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There was a time when this meant candidates knocking on doors, chats on street corners and accessibility to our leaders where the public could be heard.

It may be a sign of the times, but what remains of this appears under threat. To a degree, at least.

Over the past week, we have seen three different news stories in three different council areas that all raised separate issues with a common theme: the people's access to candidates.

First, there was the debate between mayoral candidates in the City of Launceston on Monday, October 5.

Debates do not always attract a wide section of the public, but they do attract the civic-minded and people interested in the decisions made by a local council.

But the issue raised with the mayoral debate was accessibility. It was organised and run by the city's chamber of commerce, which charged people to attend, hear from the candidates and ask questions.

It was a move criticised by many of the candidates themselves, which is understandable when they want to reach as many people as possible in an effort to gain more support and ultimately more votes.

Candidate debates in other locations around the........

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