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Arriving early to a Council meeting is good practice as you never know how many community members will attend. On Tuesday the public gallery was overflowing and our editorial team were lucky to find a seat next to the Press Desk so a laptop could be perched on knees ready to start typing.
Meanwhile, the press desk was again occupied by Council staff. On this night, the same pleasant Mr Kearns, Strategic Planner, with a new colleague, the very nice Miles from Corporate Services. And Cr Creed strolled over to mentioned that a motion was before Council to decide whether the press desk should be returned to the press!
Why do Council Staff Need to use the Press Desk
The sight of Mr Kearns at the press desk prompted a long spell of thinking (there’s plenty of downtime in Council meetings while procedural matters crawl along). Why is a planner sitting at the press desk, of all places? The answer lies in the unique employment practices within Council’s senior ranks.
The Director of City Planning position was not filled through the usual merit-based recruitment process. Instead, it was appointed under the patronage of the General Manager. The problem? The person now holding the title has no qualifications or experience in planning.
This means that whenever planning questions arise from Councillors, it falls to Mr Kearns, to answer them. On this occasion, the Director of City Planning chair was being filled by Mr Wynn, a Council staff member with the title ‘’In-House Counsel’ who also was unable to respond to planning questions asked by Councillors.
So, to keep the meeting functioning, Mr Kearns sits at the ready, shuffling from the press desk to kneel awkwardly at the feet of the Director for City Planning microphone to deliver the answers. This time however, some kindly person had placed a small chair at the ready for his use as In-House Counsel rolled the director chair aside to allow access to answer the question.
Questions of Legality and Fairness
That arrangement raises three pressing questions:
- Work Health and Safety (WHS): Is it reasonable to expect a professional staff member to dash across the chamber and kneel at someone else’s feet to speak into a microphone? The unexpected body movements required of Mr Kearns hardly seem consistent with a safe working environment for someone employed in a clerical capacity.
- Labour Laws and Remuneration: By stepping into the shoes of the Director of City Planning, in effect performing the role’s core duties, is Mr Kearns being properly compensated? Under workplace law, it’s a fair question whether he should be receiving higher duties allowance or equivalent recognition for this extra burden.
- Abandonment of Merit-Based Employment: At the heart of the matter lies a bigger governance question: is it lawful for Hawkesbury Council and the General Manager to sidestep merit-based recruitment processes, a pillar of public sector employment in NSW, in favour of personal patronage? How many positions within Council have been filled this way, and at what cost to staff performance and morale? This practice has another name in common use: cronyism. How does Council monitor the potential exploitation of personal relationships for promotion purposes and manage the WHS issues that inevitably arise from cosying up to the boss to improve your chance of promotion?
These are matters for all to ruminate and reflect on. Now to other issues for consideration...
Key Matters of Community Concern
Three major community issues dominated the September meeting:
- Turnbull Oval Redevelopment
Community sports representatives spoke powerfully about the inadequacy of the Council’s concept plan, noting that despite their attempts to engage in consultation, their concerns had been ignored. They argued the plan failed to address sporting needs, particularly for women and netball players, and prioritised playgrounds and walkways over core facilities. Council passed the concept plan on the understanding that these issues could be dealt with at the next stage. The community remained sceptical, fearing their concerns would once again be sidelined. - Childcare Rent Hikes
Council also voted to raise the rent charged to not-for-profit early childhood education centres operating in Council-owned premises moving them to 80% of commercial lease rates over the next four years. The decision, designed to fill a hole in Council’s budget, drew passionate speeches from parents, staff, and supporters, who were loudly applauded from the gallery. The only Councillor whose remarks received applause was Cr Wheeler, who challenged the flawed assumption that childcare could be milked for profit:
“We subsidise many things. Not every child plays sport, yet we have a $4 million subsidy for sport in Turnbull Oval in the same meeting. Why are we bleeding 80% out of childcare? We are taking money from children and putting it into general revenue.”
Community resistance is ongoing, with parents and educators questioning why the next generation should pay for Council’s past financial mismanagement and proposing alternative revenue strategies such as redeveloping Council-owned business premises.
- Dressage Arena Dispute
Tensions also flared over the Hawkesbury District Agricultural Association’s decision to demolish the dressage arenas used by Equestrian NSW. Calls from the gallery for the Mayor to intervene were met with silence. As frustration grew, the Mayor suspended the meeting to allow a member of the public to leave. By the end, the gallery fell into despondency, realising nothing would be resolved in this forum.
By 10.30pm, community members were heading home — bruised, frustrated, and already plotting their next strategies to deal with these unresolved issues.
A Meeting That Says It All
The September meeting opened with Cr Nathan Zamprogno apologising for muttering “For f—’s sake” under his breath during the August meeting — a response to a slanging match in August when Cr McMahon told him to “Get f—ed.”
Perhaps unintentionally, this exchange sums up community sentiment about the state of Council: dysfunctional, ill-tempered, and out of step with the people it is meant to serve.
