Wingecarribee Shire Council Public Inquiry: claims of neglect, intimidation and abuse on day two

A former council staffer blamed two councillors for trying to “stir the pot” as residents testify at a public hearing about the alleged neglect, intimidation, and abusive behaviour committed by the now-suspended council.

A former council staffer blamed two councillors for trying to “stir the pot” as residents testify at a public hearing about the alleged neglect, intimidation, and abusive behaviour committed by the now-suspended council.

The second day of the public inquiry hearings into the Wingecarribee Shire Council at the council chambers was rife with allegations of bullying and disrespect by council, as the list of witnesses ranged from a bushfire victim to a former senior council staff member.

Lawyer and local bushfire victim Sara Haslinger was the first to take the stand, telling the public inquiry the council provided no support or assistance after she and other locals lost their homes in the devastating Black Summer bushfires.

Sara Haslinger’s house burned down in January 2020 during the Black Summer bushfires. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

“The council just wasn’t there,” she said.

“There was very little support, there was very little activity, there was very little voice of council in those early days – other than council coming out and saying that they would not waive development application fees.”

After her Exeter home was destroyed in January 2020, Ms Haslinger was a vocal critic of the council’s decision to forge ahead in charging thousands of dollars in development application fees to bushfire victims who wanted to rebuild their burned homes.

Ms Haslinger said the communication from the council was “horrendous” and unproductive, with the council providing “nothing but angst”. She explained every call to council put her “back to square one” where she needed to once again recount the traumatic bushfire event that necessitated the call.

“We found the engagement with council was either a barrier to moving forward, a block to moving forward, or just a frustration and a time delay moving forward,” she said.

Sara Haslinger standing in front of the charred remains of her house in Exeter. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

In one instance, the lawyer described a community meeting with councillors about the bushfires after which suspended Mayor Duncan Gair approached her and tried to shake her hand.

When she refused, she said he told her to “just remember I have a lot of support in this town” in what she described as a “threatening tone”.

“It was very intimidating”, she said.

But Ms Haslinger told the inquiry it wasn’t just the community who felt estranged from the councillors – the councillors couldn’t even maintain a united front among themselves.

“(Their) personalities and egos (were) driving these tit-for-tat arguments in a public forum that just causes us to feel more abandoned,” she said.

Ms Haslinger said the councillors were responsible for the anger and frustration being felt in the community.

“The councillors who have been in place for a long time don’t seem to appreciate the cost of their poor leadership for many years on the community members – and it’s a direct cost on our lives.”

Bowral resident Jennifer Stokeld said she was shocked by council’s response to the toxic tip fumes. Picture: Armen Deushian

Local resident Jennifer Stokeld echoed her sentiment, noting the destructive toll of the council’s neglect of the residents affected by the toxic Bowral Waste Centre fumes.

“It was constant. It had gone from bad to extremely bad in a number of months,” she said.

Ms Stokeld said she and her neighbours had contacted council numerous times about the fumes, which caused her to be hospitalised for an eye infection – but to no avail. She said the neighbour’s frustration grew as they were pawned off to the Environmental Protection Agency without any acknowledgment of their plight.

A lack of effective council communication was the theme of the day, and one which Friends of Bowral President John Barrett knows all too well.

Along with other like-minded and knowledgeable locals, he formed the Friends of Bowral group to delve deeper into the council proposal to make Station St in Bowral into a bypass road.

The group was particularly concerned about the changing design, concept, and rapidly escalating cost of the Station St upgrade from the initial estimate of $9.5 million to an eye-watering $36 million.

“The project was really problematic for a large proportion of the community,” Mr Barrett said.

Mr Barrett told the inquiry the council was dismissive of the group and their questions about the project, even ignoring a petition opposing the project which garnered more than 3200 signatures.

He said he gained the impression that the council and the community were in opposition.

“(I)f you wrote to council, it would be dismissed immediately,” he said.

“We left the (council) meetings in despair.”

At a community meeting with councillors about the Station St proposal, Mr Barrett said former Mayor Halstead “admonished” some of the speakers for having their say against the project. The President of Friends of Bowral told the inquiry there was a perception the council was trying to push through the project “at whatever cost”.

“It (the behaviour of councillors) was extremely disappointing because the obligation of these councillors is to listen to the community, engage in consultation, and have an honest and open discussion,” he said.

Members and supporters of the Friends of Bowral rally against Station St development. Picture: Peter Edwards

Nick Wilton, the former group manager of planning, development, and regulatory services for Wingecarribee Shire Council, said the behaviour of two councillors brought “disrepute” to the council.

As the senior staff member in charge of development, Mr Wilton often interacted with councillors to explain the intricacies of developments and planning decisions.

He told the hearings former Councillor Garry Turland was the main instigator of the “heated debates” in council and said suspended Councillor Ian Scandrett also participated.

The former senior council staff member said “certain councillors” aimed to “stir the pot” during passionate debates about developments and local issues.

Mr Wilton said the relationship between councillors and executive staff was “trying and difficult at times”.

“I think that the mayor of the day was trusting of council‘s general manager and also the senior executive staff … but there were some councillors that made it very well-known that they weren’t,” he said.

According to Mr Wilton, the work environment was not consistent with a properly functioning council and staff sometimes found it difficult to do their jobs during these disruptions.

From left: Mayor Duncan Gair, former Cr Gordon Markwart, Deputy Mayor Grahame Andrews, Cr Garry Turland, and Cr Peter Nelson. Front row from left: Cr Larry Whipper, Cr Ian Scandrett, Cr Ken Halstead, former general manager Ann Prendergast, and Cr Graham McLaughlin.

“Executive and senior staff who would attend the council meetings on occasion would be really feeling that there was almost bullying that was occurring at those meetings,” he said.

“The aggressiveness of individual councillors did impact on the staff management and upon management as well.”

Mr Wilton said he’d personally witnessed instances when the now-suspended councillors became “quite abusive and abrupt” while communicating with others.

The suspended and former councillors will have their opportunity to refute the claims when they are called to testify during the final week of the public inquiry hearings.