Cr Anne Moran threatens meeting boycott after ‘dummy spit’
Adelaide City councillor Anne Moran has said she is unsure if she will attend council meetings following a fiery debate about North Adelaide parking.
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Adelaide City Cr Anne Moran is considering boycotting upcoming council and committee meetings after storming out of the chamber during debate about nurse safety in North Adelaide on Tuesday night.
In an email from Cr Moran to Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, sighted by The City, she called the council “horrible”, “out of control” and said she was “not sure she would come back any time soon”.
She felt Team Adelaide — the council’s majority faction — had attacked and belittled her during a push to review parking changes that was later knocked back.
At a meeting on Tuesday night, councillors Moran and Phil Martin walked out during discussion about North Adelaide parking changes that have made nurses at Calvary, The Memorial and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, feel unsafe at night.
It would be the first time in her 24-year council career Cr Moran would not attend purposely.
At the same meeting, she also threatened to release Adelaide City Crows “concept plans” for the Aquatic Centre site because she thinks the public have a right to know.
“What the hell am I doing spending time away from my family, grandchildren and husband to spend it here when I can’t even get a freaking permit for a poor nurse to park near the hospital when we have plenty of room,” Cr Moran said.
“Heaven help the next three-and-half-years if the council is in a ditch already.”
When they walked out, Cr Alexander Hyde was saying solutions should not be based on “ad hoc” policy on the fly, and accused North Adelaide members of creating the parking mess in the first place.
He today told The City North Adelaide councillors were “back-pedalling” for their mistakes and just having a “dummy spit”.
“These parking changes were always, and have always been, controlled by North Adelaide-based councillors, particularly Phil Martin and Anne Moran,” Cr Hyde said.
“They were clearly happy to take credit for (changes) when they thought they did a good job, but it became very evident they didn’t … and stuffed up.
“What I don’t appreciate them trying to do is put the blame on staff whose recommendations they consistently and repeatedly disregarded and refused.”
Cr Martin disagreed, saying he voted for the changes back in April, but understood he would be consulted about the changes on every street before they were implemented.
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Under the new changes, which are being trialled until June 2020, the council has removed 10-hour parking spaces around at least three hospitals.
It is instead enforcing two, three or four-hour time limits.
Staff of hospitals including Calvary, The Memorial, Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Mary Potter Hospice now have to park a significant distance away, then walk through streets in the dark for work.