Council taken to court for closing public gallery at meetings

An associate of a group that has been disrupting local government meetings to shout anti-government theories has taken a Melbourne council to the Supreme Court over its decision to close meetings to the public.

Yarra Ranges Council shut its public gallery “until further notice” in April after what it described as months of intimidating and abusive behaviour by people who came to watch meetings, including adherents of fringe conspiracy group My Place Australia.

Much of the anger in the public gallery came from concerns about the council’s urban design framework – a planning document commonly used by municipalities to guide infrastructure and development in council areas – and its embrace of the 20-minute city concept.

Conspiracy theorists believe the urban planning concepts of 15- or 20-minute cities, which aim to offer residents key services within walking distance of their homes, are a ploy to keep people locked in their suburbs.

Plaintiff Darren Dickson – a frequent speaker about common law at My Place events, and who regularly appears in the group’s promotional material – has initiated legal proceedings against Yarra Ranges Council, and the case reached the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

He claims the council, which sits on Melbourne’s eastern outskirts, has failed to engage the community in a meaningful way over its design framework for the tourist town of Monbulk. He also claims that its decision to close the public gallery “alienated the people of the community from participating in the democratic process”.

Dickson, who runs the Constitution Watch website, initially wanted the council to delay its vote on the framework for 12 months.“I’d also like to extend the hand of communication, as we have in the past, to council if they’d like to work this out,” Dickson told the court. “Another reason why we’ve been forced to come to the court is because council refused to engage with us.

”But the council is yet to decide on the framework, and meetings – which were streamed online while the gallery was closed, and allowed people to register to ask questions – will reopen to the public next Tuesday.

Yarra Ranges had originally planned to vote on the framework mid-year, but the court heard on Tuesday that the council won’t consider the proposal until September.

The framework was also open to public consultation between December and March.

A Yarra Ranges Council spokeswoman said the decision to close the public gallery “was only temporary, and we commenced planning for its reopening shortly after closing”.The council had to deploy security guards from January, and earlier this year closed a meeting and called police after more than 100 “agitators” became raucous and disruptive.https://www.theage.com.au/.../council-taken-to-court-for...