Gosford council chambers security costs to be tabled

The cost of the upgrading of security at Central Coast Council's Gosford chambers should be tabled at the council's next meeting on November 11 after questions from Cr Troy Marquart, a ward councillor for the Peninsula, at the October 28 meeting.

The October meeting was the first held at the Gosford chambers after councilors voted last November to audit the safety of the Gosford chambers.

At that meeting, now-mayor Cr Lisa Matthews said she would no longer tolerate heckling by the gallery at Gosford and that she didn't feel safe in that chamber.

At that same meeting, Cr Chris Holstein, another ward councillor for the Peninsula, said he was surprised people felt unsafe at Gosford as they were sitting ducks at the Wyong chambers.

Cr Marquart said he didn't think there was much difference between the two chambers.

Almost 12 months' later, after missing 10 meetings at Gosford, the councillors were not impressed with the changes to the Gosford chamber, making fun of the new gate that separated the councillors from the public in the gallery.

The public gallery which had been separated from the councillors by a railing was now separated by a metre-wide walkway and a second railing.

Cr Marquart said he wanted to know how much money was spent getting the room to the state it was in now.

He was speaking during a debate on how many meetings the councillors should hold at Gosford to make up for the 10 missed meetings.

The councillors voted to hold all the council meetings at Gosford until the first meeting of February next year and then alternate between Gosford and Wyong chambers.

Some councillors felt the meetings should be held at Gosford until May next year to make up for the ones missed but mayor Cr Lisa Matthews used her casting vote to defeat that motion.

SOURCE:

Central Coast Council meeting, 28 Oct 2019

Central Coast Council meeting, 26 Nov 2018