Division 4 councillor Peter Dowling, is the LNP candidate for the Redlands electorate and ceases to be a councillor when nominations close for the State election.

Council has 10 weeks to hold a by-election, which means it would have to be held by May 12.

However, the three-week period between Easter and Anzac Day may not be considered to be suitable, so any by-election is more likely to be held before Easter or after Anzac Day ? that is, on or before April 4, or on, or after May 2.

At its meeting on Wednesday night, council agreed to appoint a private company, Australian Election Company, to operate any elections up to the 2012 council election. This is a normal process by council as it has previously outsourced the operation of elections.

The last council election was conducted by the Electoral Commission of Queensland, due to amalgamations of Councils across the State.

The council chief executive officer is the statutory returning officer for the election, but he may appoint a person for the company operating the election as the returning officer.

The quoted price from the Australian Election Company to conduct a divisional by-election is $161,150 which includes the funding, and supply of all resources, material and staff.