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The Prime Minister isn’t the only one who doesn’t appear to comprehend the white-hot rage and demand for change coming from 52 per cent of the population. Proposed changes to Central Coast Council’s advisory groups demote the importance of women and undermine everyone’s voice in our local government.
By Jackie Pearson
Days after tens of thousands of women took to the streets all around Australia in the March4Justice, and in the same week as International Women’s Day (IWD), the Central Coast Council took steps to abolish its Status of Women Advisory Group (SOWAG). Days earlier SOWAG had hosted the IWD celebrations at Wyong Council Chambers and been assured its future was bright.
Women will now be part of a Social Inclusion and Advocation Advisory Committee. Does that mean council staff consider women on the Coast to have the status of a minority group?
Women are not the only ones who should be concerned about the proposed changes to council advisory groups.
Community advisory committees came under attack when the Central Coast Council was formed in 2016 and placed under administration for the first 16 months of its existence. At that time we were told advisory groups or committees were too costly. They did not constitute “best practice” consultation.
Council staff have, once again, taken the opportunity, in the absence of elected councillors, to chop the number of advisory groups or committees from 16 to 10.
Of course, Administrator Mr Dick Persson AM may reject the staff recommendation but, as he nears the end of his contract, he appears to be pushing more staff recommendations through and listening to the community less. The zoning of all COSS lands E2 on 9 March is one salient recent example.
Staff bringing this item to the 23 March Central Coast Council meeting are: James Taylor, Section Manager Governance and report author; Shane Sullivan, Unit Manager, Governance and Risk (including Internal Audit); and Natalia Cowley, Acting Director, Corporate Affairs.
It is unclear why they thought this an important enough issue to put it before an interim administrator rather than wait until elected councillors, many of them committee chairs or members, were able to consider it.
What’s the staff recommendation?
According to the staff report “advisory groups currently have a one size fits all format and have been established in an ad hoc way since amalgamation”. Committee members who’ve spoken with The Point disagree.
The report acknowledges the recommendations are due to the “impact that such groups have on Council’s resources. This is balanced with recognition of the contribution of these Groups and their members”. It’s about money.
The report proposes replacing 16 Advisory Groups with 10 “revised consolidated groups classified as either Advisory Groups, Working Groups or Networking Groups.”
The proposed advisory groups would be: Catchments to Coast Advisory Committee; Coastal Open Space System (COSS) Advisory Committee; Heritage and Culture Advisory Committee; Mangrove Mountain and Spencer Advisory Committee; Pedestrian Access and Mobility Advisory Committee; Social Inclusion and Advocation Advisory Committee; and Water Management Advisory Committee.
Working Groups would be the Companion Animals Working Group and Playspaces Working Group. The only networking group would be called the Economic Development and Regional Activation Network.
Thankfully five groups will not be changed as part of this process. They are the Coastal Open Space System (COSS) Advisory Committee, the Heritage and Culture Advisory Committee, the Mangrove Mountain and Spencer Advisory Committee set up specifically to look at the Mangrove Mountain landfill and illegal dumping at Spencer, the Pedestrian Access and Mobility Advisory Committee and the Water Management Advisory Committee.
However, the attachment to the agenda item suggests the Mangrove/Spencer group could be terminated pending the outcome of the Land and Environment Court Case that currently awaits judgement. The pedestrian access and mobility advisory committee may also be terminated because it was created to advise on the Bike Plan and Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan which have both been adopted.
The consolidation of three very critical catchment committees into one overlooks the very particular issues relevant to Tuggerah Lakes, versus Gosford’s Lagoons and Brisbane Water, versus water quality at Terrigal. All three committees contain councillors and community representatives who have a great deal of knowledge specific to their own waterway or catchment. It is unclear how squashing those committees into one will create efficiency or save time or money.
The idea of combining social inclusion with status of women beggars belief. It is tone deaf and dismissive of the unique, albeit complementary, roles played by the two committees. There is certainly overlap in areas such as family violence. However, both committees cover issues that require dedicated attention in a low socio economic region such as the Central Coast. This decision should not go ahead.
The replacement of individual advisory committees for economic development, Gosford waterfront, tourism and town centres with a single “networking group” called Economic Development and Regional Activation definitely strips the community and councillors of significant influence over these important issues and places the bureaucrats firmly in control. It should not be adopted, especially by a NSW Government-appointed interim administrator.
Problems identified in the consultation report (attached to the agenda via a link) haven’t been well addressed in staff’s recommendation to Tuesday night’s council meeting. For instance, chairs and community representatives noted a lack of diversity in the makeup of the community representation on advisory groups. Getting rid of a dedicated group for women and another for social inclusion doesn’t seem like the best way to improve that lack of diversity.
The issue of meetings falling short of quorum also appears to be ignored in the staff recommendation. Not many meetings had a problem with quorum overall but the suggestion that councillors who failed to attend three meetings in a row would be taken off a committee would seem to the sensible, yet it wasn’t included in the staff recommendation.
What does this really mean for the community?
It means less community input into decisions related to our waterways, social justice, women’s issues, Gosford CBD and waterfront, the local economy and tourism.
The process of becoming a community representative on an advisory group included expressing interest. Those community representatives had to demonstrate a special knowledge or interest in the area the committee was working on. Their voice was one way to include community knowledge in decision making on matters of great importance to this region.
It is clear council staff do not want councillors or community members to influence the Council’s agenda. Cutting these groups at the same time as proposing reducing councillors from 15 to nine is evidence that this current period of administration is about diminishing community input into council decision-making. Residents should not stand for it.
Staff have called this proposal an interim measure, put in place until after the council election in September (if we get to have one). “The existing membership composition will continue. Members would be asked to confirm their commitment to the relevant group following the proposed changes.
“It is acknowledged that some members of Council’s existing Advisory Groups may have mixed feelings about the proposed changes, however it is considered that new format will provide improved opportunities for engagement and allow greater networking,” the report says. How can reducing the number of advisory groups and downgrading the status of others create improved opportunities for engagement?
Perhaps Mr Persson will ask his Director that question in the public meeting before adopting this recommendation. It is unfortunate, as acknowledged in the report, that no consultation has been held with existing community representatives prior to putting forward this recommendation.
Council staff have also written a procedure for re-establishing current and establishing any new Advisory Groups, Working Groups and Networking Groups following the September election which, again, gives the directors more power than the community or its elected representatives.
Working groups and networking groups would not even have regular meetings under the new proposed format. The networking group wouldn’t have a chair or convenor and would have no decision-making power, not even recommendations back to staff or councillors.
The Administrator has kindly been given three options to consider in the staff report: retain the status quo; go with the staff recommendation; or “cease all Advisory Groups until following the Local Government Elections in September 2021, at which point a revised framework with consolidated groups and new membership may be established. This option is not recommended as Advisory Groups are one of the consultation methods in which Council engages with the community. The contribution of members on these Groups is valuable to Council and the community.”
The third option can then be likened to the Prime Minister’s remarks about women being shot for protesting not far from our shores. We are supposed to be thankful we get to retain any advisory groups.
What can you do about it?
1. Email the administrator via [email protected] and respectfully request that he does not make any changes to the committee structure but recommends staff bring this matter back for the consideration of councillors whether reinstated before September or duly elected in September.
2. Turn your facebook profile black and send a screenshot to the administrator’s email address.
3. Share this article to let people know why you’ve sent your profile pic black.
4. Join the women’s protest outside the Gosford Council Chamber building in Mann St, Gosford, at 6pm on Tuesday, 23 March.
5. Register to speak at the council’s public forum in opposition to the proposed advisory group changes.
6. Call a local radio station between now and Tuesday and tell them what you think of the staff recommendation.
7. Express interest in joining an advisory group after the September local government election.
