Councillor Matthew Whitfield failed to persuade any other councillors to vote in favour of the plan, which would have taken council meetings to Baldivis, Cooloongup, Golden Bay, Hillman, Port Kennedy, Rockingham, Safety Bay, Secret Harbour, Shoalwater, Singleton, Waikiki and Warnbro on a 12-month trial.
Mayor Barry Sammels said at last week's Corporate and Community Development committee meeting the proposal "could cause confusion", while on Tuesday night Cr Richard Smith said it was "a daft idea", to Cr Whitfield's chagrin.
"The formality and status in the role (of a council meeting) would need to be emulated in every other community, and what goes on at council meetings is important and the format in which it is done is important," Cr Smith said.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWCouncillors Leigh Liley and Chris Elliott also spoke against the proposal and said the current council format worked "extremely well".
Cr Whitfield put the motion forward as a suggestion for councillors to engage more with the community, after reporting a backlash following recent rate rises.
"Every idea comes from inspiration" it's disrespectful to label this as daft," Cr Whitfield said in response to Cr Smith's comment.
"I accept I haven't won this time and it's not a popular idea, but I still think it's important to put through new ideas."
The motion was defeated 7-1, but all councillors supported his motion to direct the chief executive to significantly increase opportunities for residents to participate in the annual customer satisfaction surveys as of next year.