A PUSH to introduce fortnightly meetings at Southern Downs Regional Council, instead of monthly, has divided councillors.

The subject of how often the council meets has divided councillors for years, with half pushing to speed up the flow of business.

A report presented to the council on Wednesday suggested deferring any changes until after the Local Government elections in March next year.

Not every councillor agreed however, with Deputy Mayor Cr Ross Bartley reaffirming his position on meetings - in particular the controversial briefing sessions.

Currently the council holds one general meeting each month, which is open to the public, and several briefing sessions for councillors, which are closed to the public.

The council may also hold special meetings at any time for important issues.

Cr Bartley suggested the council trial fortnightly general meetings for the next three months, with a briefing session afterwards.

"I probably sound like a broken record but I have a different position to the CEO," he said.

"My way of thinking is that I'd like to see faster rolling out of business to the community - developers wouldn't have to wait 30 days to hear back about negotiated decisions."

Cr Bartley also suggested briefing sessions should be open to the public and cautioned the council that the sessions were only for information and not for making decisions.

Stanthorpe-based Cr Vic Pennisi, who has also been pushing for change for a while, echoed the deputy mayor's comments.

"We started with a three-month trial with the system we have now - it's worth trying something different," he said.

"There are good things and bad things about the current process."

Others were unconvinced, with Cr Jo McNally concerned fortnightly meetings would clash with councillor commitments. Cr Denise Ingram is satisfied with the current process.

"There's only six months until the new council, it should be left to them to decide," she said.

In the end Crs Bartley, Pennisi, Gow and Mackenzie voted in favour for change, with Crs Rees, McNally, Meiklejohn, Ingram and Blundell against.