Resident slams ‘horrendous symbolic display’ at Yarra Council meeting

Yarra City Council last night set up a barrier between the public and councillors in a move one resident has labelled a “horrendous symbolic display”.

Several heavy-duty tables — which some attendees dubbed ‘the Great Wall of Yarra’ — were placed between the councillors and community attendees.

Co-founder of Yarra Residents Collective, Adam Promnitz, says it was “a horrendous symbolic display of what’s wrong and how they view and deal with the community”.

“The lectern was positioned behind the barrier so we were able to speak and make our submissions but we’ve never seen this before,” he said.

“We think this is a terrible start for the new CEO Sue Wilkinson, who we think needs to offer an immediate and unconditional apology for the way the public were treated last night.”

The council voted in favour of new rules restricting how long community members can speak at council meetings, and how many questions they can ask. People must also now lodge their questions at least 24 hours before a council meeting.

Press PLAY below to hear how the meeting unfolded