Wingecarribee Council stood down by Local Government Minister

Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock has suspended Wingecarribee Council after ongoing complaints about the culture.

Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock has suspended Wingecarribee Council for three months after ongoing complaints about the toxic culture and inherent dysfunction within the council. 

Ms Hancock suspended the councillors on March 12, after issuing a suspension notice on March 3.

Ms Hancock said the suspensions followed “serious concerns” about the council’s ability to function properly and effectively following a worsening and ongoing breakdown of relationships between councillors and senior staff.

The minister appointed local government veteran Viv May as interim administrator for the besieged council, forecasting the restoration of “the proper and effective operation of the council”.

MP Wendy Tuckerman and MP Nathaniel Smith after encouraging a Performance Improvement Order in 2020.

Suspension applies to the mayor and councillors, with the interim administrator performing their functions. It does not affect council staff and daily operations.

On March 3, Ms Hancock said the measures put in place by the Performance Improvement Order issued in September last year had failed to help the embattled council resolve its deep-seated issues.

Wollondilly state Liberal MP Nathaniel Smith said the decision has been a long time coming.

“They can’t get themselves out of the naughty corner,” he said.

“This toxic and dysfunctional culture has been a barnacle on the ship of progress.”

The council had seven days to submit a response to the notice of intention and explain why it should be allowed to continue to operate as usual.

Councillor Garry Turland said the true root of the problem won’t be addressed by this suspension.

“The staff never give us the whole truth. The staff are the real problem,” he said.

However Mayor Duncan Gair believes the potential suspension has gone too far. He said the notice was an overzealous move that should have been restricted to the instigators of trouble.

“We’ve all been tarred by the same brush,” he said.

Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock has preempted the Performance Improvement Order report and made the decision. Picture: Christian Gilles / NCA NewsWire

“I don’t think it’s necessary to get rid of six people who are there for the right reason.”

Ms Hancock issued a notice of intention on March 3 to suspend the council for three months after a letter from local MPs Nathaniel Smith and Goulburn state Liberal MP Wendy Tuckerman was sent out yesterday calling for “urgent intervention.”

“We supported the PIO as we believed it was desirable for council to resolve its internal difficulties,” the letter read.

“Regrettably, we are of the view that the PIO has not achieved its desired outcome.”

EARLIER

The suspension order comes after a heated council meeting in February, which led to the expulsion of Cr Turland, several shouting matches which erupted throughout the four-hour meeting and Mayor Duncan Gair liberally used the mute button to silence the entire meeting.

Accusations and threats were thrown about the Zoom meeting to discuss important and contentious issues on Wednesday and were made worse by technical issues which caused several councillors to lose connection.

Despite spending over four hours in the meeting, the council didn’t have time to discuss many of the community interest issues on the agenda, including the controversial fur ban and the contentious issue of the general manager appointment.

The council meeting was unable to be held at Council Chambers this week because it is not yet COVID-safe. Picture: Wingecarribee Shire Council

Councillor Ian Scandrett entered the meeting late after apparently being held in the online waiting room, while councillor Garry Turland said he was told to leave when he arrived at the council chambers in person in the afternoon.

From the outset, there were heated discussions of meeting practice, with Cr Scandrett arguing for a restart and Cr Turland asking whether the council had followed procedure.

“This meeting needs to be abandoned,” Cr Turland shouted.

“You are in breach.”

Mayor Duncan Gair used the mute button heavily to censor the shouting councillors, although Cr Turland accused him of using the button only to silence his detractors.

The mayor told the meeting the argumentative behaviour of the councillors was childish.

“It sounds like school kids having a go at each other,” he said.

Cr Gair used the Zoom waiting room to coerce the councillors to behave.

“If you do any more interrupting, Cr Turland, I’ll put you in the waiting room,” he said.

Resident Rachel Russell, who advocates for the deferral of the general manager appointment until after this year’s local government elections, said the long discussions were a political ploy to delay decisions on these important issues.

Residents of the Southern Highlands rallied against the appointment of a GM. The motion to defer the appointment was meant to be debated in council this week.

Former general manager Ann Prendergast was released from her contract, mutually agreed by both parties, in July.

“It became clear with them filibustering the whole situation that they don’t plan on voting on the GM deferral,” she said after the meeting.

“Not engaging with community concerns demonstrates how out of touch they are.”

The mayor confirmed the council were deadlocked on many of the community interest issues up for discussion.

“We seem to be delaying and delaying major decisions and looking for the easy way out,” he said during the meeting

More than once, Cr Gair accused Cr Scandrett of breaching the code of conduct that directs councillors.

In the last fifteen minutes, the Zoom erupted into a shouting match between Cr Turland and Cr Gair.

Mayor Duncan Gair received training on managing council meetings as part of the Performance Improvement Order. Picture: Wingecarribee Shire Council

Cr Turland reported he was thrown out of the closed council meeting that followed, and not allowed to return.

Tensions were exacerbated by technical difficulties which caused broken speech and dropped some councillors from the meeting altogether. Councillor Scandrett said the interruptions meant that the meeting should not have continued.

“The meeting was a debacle. The atmosphere is toxic,” said Cr Scandrett afterwards.

The council has been contacted for comment.

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