The folly and the ivy? Councillors, lord mayor fenced in

For more than 35 years, Wollongong City Council‘s open meetings have taken place just that way – open.

In recent times, things suddenly changed.

With no announcement or explanation, a white picket fence adorned with fake ivy has been erected, separating the public from the lord mayor, general manager and councillors.

Members of the public who address council in the “public access” session at the start of each meeting have traditionally been positioned directly in front of elected representatives. Now they have to speak over the dividing fence.

The Illawarra Flame asked if there was a specific reason why it deemed necessary to erect a fence.

In a statement, a council spokesperson said: “Council undertakes ongoing safety and risk assessments at all council facilities and places of work to ensure the safety and amenity of all. A recent review of arrangements in the council chambers identified a number of occurrences where members of the public had walked behind councillors from one side of the gallery to the other and had directly approached councillors at their seated locations to discuss matters.

“Whilst these incidents were not a direct safety risk, it highlighted that the orderly operation of council meetings could be improved by clearly designating the public gallery area.”

At this point in time there’s no sound-proofing in place to protect our elected official’s ears from a nasty outburst from the cheap seats or – heaven forbid – name-calling from an aggrieved ratepayer. Council’s risk assessment department has clearly decided the likelihood of a verbal assault is yet to reach the threshold of “likely to occur” or “could irretrievably damage council’s reputation”.

When was the decision made?

The need for a protective fence has never made it on to a Wollongong City Council meeting agenda. Maybe it was one of the discussions held in one of those secret council meetings? If that is the case, we will never know.

One can only imagine the debate which took place. Is a white picket fence the right “look”? How high should it be? How would a rainbow-coloured fence go down with the ratepayers? Can we keep the cost under $1000, in case the pesky media asks what it cost? (We didn’t, by the way, but we probably should have).

Council’s spokesperson offered one more explanation for the addition of the low-budget security measure. That fence it seems will also be of help to the 10 or so folk who make the life-changing choice to venture to what was once the highest point of Greater Wollongong – level 10 of the Burelli Street council fortress.

“The lightweight fencing installed for each meeting assists in guiding members of the public to the appropriate area of the chamber from which to watch council meetings,” the spokesperson added.

(Back in the day, a simple sign with an arrow pointing out “Public Viewing Area” would have achieved much the same goal).

How things used to be

This author remembers reporting on council meetings in those same chambers in the late 1980s and early '90s, when three commercial television news services all sent camera crews that were freely able to roam the room throughout the meeting to capture all the excitement and the cut and thrust of another lively council debate.

It happened week in and week out – perhaps surprisingly, without incident.

I recall audience numbers would, on occasion, swell to 50 (depending on whether the introduction of a fee to enter a council pool was on the agenda).

Aldermen, as they were called back in the day, would also take the opportunity to stretch their legs, chatting with the five journalists (ABC, Illawarra Mercury, WIN, Prime and Capital), behind their desks in the “media area”.

Alas, the need for a designated media area has long gone. That spot in the chamber has been taken by a half dozen public servants, eagerly standing by (some precariously positioned on the wrong side of the fence) in case they’re needed to shed light and wisdom on a tricky issue under scrutiny.

Are nettles required?

How times have changed – both in our council and, sadly, in our local media.

I still have visions of an elected Bolt, Hansen, Wetherall or Wilson strolling the chambers mid-meeting (unimpeded by fences needing to be hurdled to enable councillors to mingle with the masses) catching up with punters in the gallery during a rare dead spot in the meeting’s proceedings.

It was a simpler time, when white picket fences were reserved for posh places in Balgownie or at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Let’s just hope there doesn’t come a day when there’s the need for that fake ivy, strategically placed atop the “lightweight” fence, needs to be replaced by something much more foreboding. Stinging nettles perhaps or even better still, a hardy, spiky local native.

Footnote: This is the second story I’ve written about community safety concerns raised in recent weeks. The other was about hundreds of children and students attending two schools in the inner city risking their lives each day going to and from school. After several years looking for a solution, council is still working on it.