Greens-run Yarra Council slammed for planned for changes to public meetings

Residents say Yarra Council’s move to change rules surrounding public meetings is aimed at gagging locals and is an attack on democracy.

Greens-run Yarra Council is attempting to gag debate in its public meetings, proposing a series of measures that one councillor describes as an attack on grassroots democracy.

Ratepayers have also condemned the plan to silence critics with a range of measure that includes:

Reducing a resident’s question time from five minutes to three minutes.

A question has to be lodged in writing, and at least 24 hours before.

A resident can only ask one question at a meeting.

The chair can disallow a question if it is “objectionable in substance”.

Adam Promnitz (centre) says the council is “more focused on silencing the community” than delivering good policy. Picture: David Geraghty

Yarra Residents Collective co-founder Adam Promnitz said the “appalling proposals” would weaken democracy.

“This motion from a beleaguered council is about protecting the feelings of some highly paid executives and tone-deaf Greens councillors who need to hear what the community has to say rather than ignoring them,’’ Mr Promnitz said.

‘For a council that is going broke and constantly making headlines for the wrong reasons, they have a truly impressive ability to blame the residents for their woes.

“This is the playbook of an ailing Greens council who are more focused on silencing the community it so often fails to serve rather than delivering good policy and value too.’’

Socialist councillor Stephen Jolly is also railing against the debate suppression.

“They’re trying to gag locals because they’re up to no good,” Mr Jolly said.

“If Yarra was proud of hiking up fees and charges they wouldn’t be doing this. I hope the Greens remember on Tuesday that no one voted for them thinking they’d attack grassroots democratic rights.”

Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly says some of his colleagues are gagging locals because ‘they’re up to no good’. Picture: Alex Coppel

The raft of changes is the latest debate-stifling measure at Yarra, which in March wanted to limit what councillors could say in public or to the media. And it follows a series on divisive measures, including bungled changes to rubbish collection, plans for gender-inclusive flags to fly over Richmond Town Hall, a bizarre $22,000 banana sculpture and hitting businesses with exorbitant fees for “parklets” on street spaces.

A Yarra spokeswoman said the changes follow an extensive review and community consultation. Mayor Sophie Wade did not respond to questions from the Herald Sun.

Yarra Council splashed $22,000 on a menacing big banana sculpture in a bid to make a key street more ‘pedestrian friendly’. Picture: Alex Coppel

Council paying thousands for secret reports 

Yarra Council has been paralysed by secret internal ­reviews and red tape as it seeks a way out of its financial and other internal woes.

The troubled administration based at Richmond Town Hall has even brought in external consultants, costing tens of thousands of dollars.

The Herald Sun is aware of at least four reports but all are secret; not even councillors have full ­access to every report.

The council has refused a Herald Sun Freedom of Information Application to the documents, completely denying access. Not even the topics covered by the reports were made available.

The council hired Hawthorn-based strategic consultant Atticusnow for a strategic and operational analysis.

The undisclosed documents include four reports from May 18 to June 17, one of them listed as a councillor briefing.

Yarra Council planned to slug restaurateur Katie Marron $5000 to use an outdoor dining space after she endured damaging lockdowns. Picture: Mark Stewart

Yarra Residents Collective spokesman Adam Promnitz said the council was using taxpayer funds to pay through the nose for reports that were then hidden from the public.

“It appears that the guise of confidentiality is significantly overused for items that the council merely would find ­unpopular for the community to have the full background on,” he said.

The group called on Local Government Minister Melissa Horne to rein in “this out-of-control bureaucracy”. Yarra’s internal operation has been overseen by state government-appointed monitor Yehudi Blacher since December.

Greens Mayor Sophie Wade did not respond to Herald Sun questions.

Overflowing bins in Yarra Council.

$3000 for council inclusion training

Yarra councillors have undergone “inclusion training” to better understand lived experiences of people from the LGBTQIA+ community.

The cash-strapped inner-city council spent $3000 on the course run by Minus18, an LGBTQIA+ youth charity, last month.

Participation in the course is part of the council’s inclusion policies but it also comes after accusations against Greens councillor Anab Mohamud, who is facing charges linked to alleged transphobic and homophobic behaviour.

Ratepayers Victoria spokesman Dean Hurlston questioned Yarra’s spending priorities.

“Given there are matters before the court where it is alleged a councillor made disgusting comments against a trans person I find it hypocritical for Yarra to present this is as ‘happy families’,” he said.

Ms Mohamud attended the three-hour course – Foundations of LGBTQIA+ Inclusion – with three other Greens councillors and independent Herschel Landes. Deputy Mayor Edward Crossland, who was a former deputy convener at Minus18, posted a photo of the attendees on his Facebook page applauding the course.

Mr Hurlston said the squeeze on council budgets had never been more real. It’s not clear if other council staff will undertake the training.

The Aromantic flag flying above Yarra Council Town Hall sparked heated debate. Picture: Facebook

Flight call all hot air

A call by a Yarra councillor to find alternatives to air travel to reduce emissions has been dismissed by ratepayers and business leaders.

Former mayor Gabrielle de Vietri, who is the Greens candidate for the state seat of Richmond, questioned the need for a third runway at Melbourne Airport and suggested high-speed rail as a future option.

Ms de Vietri said the new flight paths meant more planes over the Richmond area.

But residents said they’d rather their streets were cleaned.

Ms de Vietri said the Victorian Greens did not support the airport expansion and the construction of a third runway.

“I share the concerns from community members about the noise and health impacts of this proposed runway, in addition to the fact that there are no plans for a curfew,” she said.

Yarra resident Jonathan Lowe said people would travel whether Melbourne had two runways or three.

“It’s not going to stop the amount of people who want to travel somewhere, so you’re not going to actually lower emissions,” Mr Lowe said.

An airport spokesman said air traffic was expected to increase regardless of whether the runway was built.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said a third runway was an important infrastructure project.