Riot squad called in for Inner West meeting

BY MICHAEL FORNO

A police riot squad and a privately contracted security firm watched over inner west residents on Tuesday night at the second council meeting of the newly formed Inner West Council.

The meeting was held at the chambers of the former Ashfield Council.

City Hub believes at least 40 residents were turned away from the meeting room, which was filled to its capacity of hundred people.

Many residents were surprised to discover that guests were able to pre-register online for the event and that their bags would be checked and their bodies would be frisked for weapons.

ID was also required. Residents were then taken to the meeting room, by elevator with a security escort. Despite the pre-registration many were still turned away because the room was said to be at capacity.

A small gathering of residents in opposition to the construction of WestConnex preceded the meeting outside the chambers.

Jamie Parker, Greens MP in the NSW Parliament, addressed the crowd saying that WestConnex and the associated unfair property acquisitions must stop.

This is the second meeting of the Inner West Council following a heated maiden meeting of the new council in May.

The Inner West Council is result of the forced amalgamation of the Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils by the NSW Government. A young woman faced court charges following the first council meeting for spitting on the Council Administrator, Richard Pearson.

Lewisham resident Ally Dun was one of few to make it into the meeting room.

“I’d not been in those council chambers before but there was a very obvious barrier of bollards and ropes separating the council area from the public area. It was standing room only but it wasn’t as crowded as the previous meeting had been. They turned a lot of people away, even with pre-registration numbers,” she said.

Inside the meeting a lot of tough questions were asked of the current Administrator, Richard Pearson, whose interim leadership of the council will expire in September 2017.

Rochelle Porteous, a former Mayor of Leichhardt Council, prior to the forced amalgamations, took the floor.

“I should start by saying that I do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the Inner West Council,” she said.

“We’ve been replaced by unelected administrators who have been appointed by the Baird Government. But the next thing I want to say is that all meetings within this broad council need to be conducted according to Leichhardt Council meeting code of practice.”

“You do not need to register, you do not need ID to get into the building, and everybody is allowed to speak. So I put the question to the administrators tonight, will you guarantee henceforth that every council meeting that you conduct will be according to the Leichhardt code of meeting practice?” she said.

Mr Pearson’s response came amid a din of disagreement and anger.

“Look, I said earlier this is not a question and answer session. In this council meeting you get to express your views and I get to consider them,” he said.

Apart from some vocal displays of displeasure the meeting was conducted in an orderly and civil manner.

Ms Dun was surprised at the scale of police and security presence for what was a peaceful meeting.

“The protesters were all very quiet, we took our seats. We all had A4 pieces of paper. That said ‘stop the demolition, stop the WestConnex’ and on the other side said ‘Democracy not dictatorship, bring back our councils’,” she said.

“I’m sure the mainstream media will, like last time, say that it was an absolute furor, but last time it was still civil except for two people who made headlines. This time it was far more civil than that. It was well under control and everyone expressed their views in a way that didn’t obstruct the meeting unnecessarily. And when we left the meeting there were six police officers sitting outside the room on their phone because they just had nothing to do,” she said.

Stanmore resident Mark Holleley came with his wife to the meeting and was not admitted because the room was at capacity. He had heard from others that the meeting was going ahead. He said the council website said there was no meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

“I think it is deliberate. Everything was designed to make people unaware it was on and then when we got there to feel uncomfortable; and then it just encourages people to gloss over their views quickly.

“I thought it was outrageous. It was disgusting to be part of as a ratepayer, and a resident of what was Marrickville council. I am paying to be part of this institution.”

Mr Pearson defended the security precautions surrounding the meeting, “The people of the Inner West didn’t want to see a repeat of the scenes at first meeting of the Inner West Council.-

“I also absolutely refused to have the council staff put in that position again,” he said. “The meeting agenda was published on the Inner West Council website, and all of the remaining websites of the previous councils advertised the date of the meeting on the Council meetings page. I’m extremely pleased that protesters respected both their right to peaceful protest, and the right of other residents to attend the meeting in a safe environment and address items that were of interest to them.”