Support to remove council glass wall to end divide between councillors and residents

RESPECTED former mayor Lex Bell supports a move by community groups to have the glass wall at council’s chamber removed to help improve relations with residents. What do you think?

RESPECTED former mayor Lex Bell supports a move by community groups to have the glass wall at council’s chamber removed to help improve relations with residents.

A Gold Coast Bulletin report and video highlighted the frustration of community leaders who regularly turn up to full council meetings to protest about Black Swan Lake and other planning issues.

Wildlife Queensland Gold Coast president Sally Spain said residents had few opportunities to get their message across to councillors and only an “occasional cheer or ruffled noise” could be heard from the gallery.

Deputy Mayor Donna Gates, Mayor Tom Tate and Cameron Caldwell before a packed gallery. Picture Glenn Hampson

Mr Bell recalled being returned to council in 2012, decades after the glass was installed in the chamber in earlier administrations.

Older councillors recall the old Surfers Paradise administration called The Beehive in the 1980s being an open plan with residents sitting within earshot of them.

“When I returned one of my early motions was for the glass to be removed. It (the motion) went down quite strongly. I only had two or three supporters,” Cr Bell told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

The city’s longest-serving politician and former Surfers Paradise divisional councillor and independent MP recalled some councillors were concerned about a potential safety issue if a person in the gallery became violent.

Asked why he pushed for the glass to be removed, Mr Bell replied: “I felt it was because of the interaction. It wasn’t so much for better dialogue, it was so people felt part of the debate itself.

The public gallery behind a glass wall. Picture: Richard Gosling

“I felt it was a psychological thing more than anything else. I remember back at The Beehive that councillors would give a cup of tea to people in the gallery.

“It was a friendly thing. No-one during my time in the (old) chamber caused any problems.”

Mr Bell was supported in debate during 2012 on the motion by veteran councillor Dawn Crichlow and Helensvale-based councillor William Owen-Jones.

Cr Crichlow today told the Gold Coast Bulletin: “I would support it being removed 100 per cent. I never supported it in the first place.

“The people are the ones who elect us. They’re the ones we should be listening to. I don’t care if it’s a large group or a small group.

“It shouldn’t be them against us. We are all equal. We all have to sit down when we go to the toilet.”