The first council meeting for the City of Casey this year was adjourned after hundreds of angry and frustrated residents shouted and heckled throughout the meeting, prompting a police call-out.
Casey’s ratepayers attended the meeting to voice their concerns and opinions on the municipality’s private land use permits, the proposed Hampton Park waste transfer station, the governance and transparency, and the daily maintenance of the roads, parks, and other facilities.
They also came to listen to their submitted public questions being heard.
The meeting started late after 6pm.
Tensions were high from the beginning, with the crowd only remaining silent during Mayor Stefan Koomen’s initial greeting, but soon exploded when he began a welcome to and acknowledgement of the country.
With shouts of disapproval and one too many voices calling for the mayor to stop, this was further exacerbated by Koomen’s acknowledgement of diversity in Casey.
About 63 public questions were read. Most were related to the council’s private land use permit and the proposed Hampton Park waste transfer station.
There was a strong call from the assembly for the councillors to answer their questions, despite not having submitted a formal registered question to be addressed during the meeting.
Quite a number of residents in the front row, where the question submitters were seated, stood up after 63 questions being read and questioned where their questions and answers were. They claimed that they had submitted the questions, but their questions were not read and answered.
The meeting was first adjourned for 10 minutes after public question time, and Victoria Police came out to escort the councillors and council officers out of the gallery.
Mayor Koomen adjourned the meeting for the night after continuous high emotions from the gallery during the council officers’ reports.
More to come…
