Community advocates have joined forces to slam Central Coast Council’s new trial format for its monthly public forums – holding them the day before each general meeting rather than immediately prior to the meeting itself.
The three-month trial of the new system kicked off this week, with one lone speaker registering to talk at the public forum on Monday, May 22, ahead of the May 23 meeting.
Norm Harris addressed the forum on the matter of water rates and has joined with seven other regular speakers to condemn the trial format, which Council says is intended to provide more time for public speakers and for staff to respond to matters raised at each forum before the following night’s meeting.
The eight activists, who have provided 12 of the 14 speeches given at the last three public forum meetings, have issued a joint statement criticising the move.
They have spoken on a wide range of community topics and say they represent a diverse range of opinion and community interests.
Activists who have endorsed the joint statement are Norm Harris, Kate Mason, Kevin Brooks, Matthew Wells, Mark Ellis, Nicky Prescott, Joy Cooper and Matthew Low.
They say they have come together to “say enough is enough with the continuing erosion of democratic participation”.
The trial format was announced by Administrator Rik Hart at the April 26 meeting without any notice on the agenda and with no report, no recommendation and no formal resolution.
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The joint statement says the change is designed to benefit the Council bureaucracy and not the local community and expresses wider concerns about the impact of “undemocratic local government” on the community.
It says the main purpose of the move is to reduce the impact of the public forum on meetings.
“With local democracy suspended, the public forum held immediately before each Council meeting has provided a rare opportunity for residents to hold Council senior management accountable and seek to influence Council decisions,” the statement says.
“Now, Council senior managers want to undermine the effectiveness of the forum by separating it from the Council meeting.
“They want the forum to be held on a separate day.
“Residents will have to attend two meetings rather than one, and the process will cost more.
“Council managers will also control the public narrative as their words will be the only words heard and reported on the night of the Council meeting.”
The statement says that in recent months, forum speakers have been critical that Council services continue to deteriorate despite massive rate hikes and asset sales.
“In response, the Administrator and Council senior managers have at times appeared not across the detail of their own reports or briefs,” it says.
“That is why they want an extra 24 hours to respond to constructive criticism with Council spin.
“Rather than seeking to marginalise constructive public scrutiny, they should use it as a spur to improve performance.”
The statement criticises Council claims that the new format will possibly allow speakers to address items not on the next night’s agenda.
This was previously allowed but abolished by Hart himself in February, 2022, it says.
“Five-minute speeches have also been allowed in the past before being reduced to three minutes by Council,” it says.
“This shows that the only real purpose of the ‘trial’ is to reduce the impact of the forum by separating it from the Council meeting.”
The statement says the trial is non-compliant with Council policy, not having been approved by formal resolution, and with the Public Forum Policy, which states that any forum should be held on the same day as the Council meeting.
“When those who govern us believe their own policies do not apply to them, this is a slippery slope towards arbitrary government,” it says.
“Sadly, this is all too common where democracy is absent.”
The activists claim community input to decision making is being increasingly marginalised and the absence of public accountability is leading to arbitrary decision making, with no effective checks and balances.
They say they will be seeking a meeting with Minister for the Central Coast David Harris and other State MPs to discuss their concerns.
Terry Collins