Salisbury council meeting called off as council cites power failure

A large crowd was waiting to be heard about concerns their council was watching them – but nobody could have predicted what would happen next.

Crowds gather at the Salisbury Community Centre ahead of a vaunted council meeting. Picture: Brinley Duggan

A highly-anticipated council meeting has been called off as large crowds gathered in what the council feared could descend into chaos.

As doors were about to open City of Salisbury chief executive John Harry and Mayor Gillian Aldridge approached the crowd to deliver the news.

A power outage in the area had impacted the building and, Mr Harry said, occupational health and safety restrictions meant the meeting could not go ahead.

According to SA Power Networks’ outage page, a power outage affecting 1151 people was expected to be repaired by 8.15pm.

From as long as two hours beforehand the crowd had begun to gather in anticipation of a council meeting they planned to attend in mass numbers to protest against “Smart Cities”.

Councillors Grace Bawden shared information online supporting a mass protest at the council chambers. Picture: Salisbury Council/Heidi Wolff

Councillor Severina Burner shared information online comparing smart cities to concentration camps. Picture: Salisbury Council/Heidi Wolff

Members of the group said it is nothing more than a silent protest, but discussions with the City of Salisbury earlier this month had Ms Aldridge and members of her council fearing their safety.

Tensions about the meeting flared two weeks ago when The Advertiser revealed the City of Salisbury was prepared for hostility similar to the “storming” of the Onkaparinga Council meeting earlier in January.

The preparation came as a conspiracy-fuelled group going by the name NOSCAG planned a protest over “Smart Cities” which they likened to Orwellian Big Brother.

Much of the group’s communication referenced information distributed by Senator Alex Antic, who has since asked the group to remove his name from their advertising.

Mayor Gillian Aldridge and Deputy-Mayor Chad Buchanan were both scathing of two councillors, Severina Burner and Grace Bawden, who they said were encouraging the protest.

Meanwhile, community members called for Ms Burner to resign over a social media post likening smart cities to Nazi concentration camps.

Before it was cancelled, Monday night’s meeting was set to feature an agenda heavy with responses to the councillors’ online interactions and comments to the media as well as an education plan relating to smart cities.

Ms Burner has posted online refusing to apologise for comments she made to The Advertiser. Picture: Facebook

Former United Australia Party hopeful Alvin Warren was set to deliver a deputation about Smart Cities while councillor Beau Brug would have moved a motion about “community education of council’s SMART city technology”.

In another motion, Mr Buchanan planned to call on the City of Salisbury to apologise to Onkaparinga over comments Ms Burner and Ms Bawden made to The Advertiser claiming the council “breached the proper process” and the mayor and council “provoked the public … into a justified reaction”.

Prior to the meeting Ms Burner added fuel to the fire, posting an online photo of the council’s agenda accompanied with the words, “we are not apologising for our personal views”.

Meanwhile across town, scenes were much more tame with those wishing to enter the Onkaparinga Council meeting forced to wait outside the building.

Since the events of January 17, council put into place a number of new rules regarding how many can sit inside council meetings, with the maximum at 35.

If there were any disruptions to a meeting, a maximum fine of $1250 could be enforced.

All members of the gallery were made to sign in, providing their name and phone number.

Four police were present for the meeting, as well as a number of council security.