"What I'd like people to be mindful of is that it's a meeting of council which is open to the public, it's not a public meeting," Councillor Herbert said.

He said he was disappointed last month's meeting had to be temporarily adjourned due to unruly behaviour.

Cr Herbert said a number of people had told him they would not attend any future meetings after witnessing the behaviour of a few members of the public at the September meeting.

"It's not a discussion between councillors and members of gallery, it's simply an exercise where the community is able to observe in silence."

Cr Herbert said the council had included a reminder about behaviour in its October agenda in a bid to avoid a repeat of what happened in September. "It's just a courtesy reminder," he said.

Members of the public are encouraged to review council's local law with regard to behaviour at meetings.

In this, people attending council meetings are advised they "must not interject or take part in the debate".

Warrnambool City Council's chief executive officer Peter Schneider warned unruly gallery members last month they could be hit with an $825 fine.

"Those failing to comply with a direction from the chair risk a fine of five penalty units - about $825," he said.

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