Central Coast Council Gosford chamber to open again for meetings

After more than eight months of council meetings at Wyong, Central Coast Council is preparing to open up its Gosford chamber again … with significant changes.

Central Coast Council’s Gosford chamber has been closed for more than 8 months.

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Central Coast Council is planning to open its Gosford chamber, once safety and access works are completed.

It has been more than eight months since councillors voted to shut down the Gosford chamber, with some councillors saying they had been physically threatened and verbally abused by members of the public gallery.

A council spokeswoman has told the Express Advocate the council “anticipated” the chambers will reopen for council meetings in September.

“Following the audit of Gosford Chambers earlier this year, council will implement changes to access and provide separation between the gallery and the councillor area,” she said.

However, the council did not elaborate on specific changes to be made.

A railing is all that divides councillors from the gallery.

“It has also been identified that work is required in the chambers that is not related to the audit,” the spokeswoman said.

“Once this remedial work is completed, the actions required as a result of the audit will be taken. The chambers are being used currently, however not for the conduct of council meetings.”

The decision to officially shut the Gosford chamber was made in November last year, when councillors expressed concern that the chamber railing, which divides the councillors from the gallery, was not enough of a barrier and voted for a safety audit.

At the time, Councillor Lisa Matthews said she has had concerns for her safety.

Central Coast councillor Lisa Matthews expressed safety concerns. Picture: Sue Graham

Cr Kyle MacGregor said he had been physically threatened in the Gosford chamber. Picture: Facebook

“Clearly, we meet late at night and sometimes into the wee hours of the morning and in my mind there is risks of safety,” she said.

“We have been subjected to heckling from people behind us. I’m no longer wanting to tolerate it. I do not feel safe in that chamber.”

Cr Kyle MacGregor said he had been physically threatened at Gosford.

“Although there is a divider there (between councillors and the public) if some crazy person was to go over the top there’s a high chance someone could get seriously injured,” he said.

The issue came to a head in May 2018 when the chamber was jam packed with people interested in hearing councillors debate the issue of dredging in Ettalong Channel.

Many people were forced to sit on the floor and tempers flared over the issue forcing Mayor Jane Smith to stop the meeting to settle down the crowd.

The issue of access has also been raised many times, with elevator and fire exit concerns in the event of an emergency.

Since November, all meetings have been held in Wyong, with many people from the southern region not happy about constantly having to travel.

Once work is completed, council voted to make up the number of missed meetings in Gosford to make it fair on all residents.