Hurstville Council meeting secrecy queried: Public land sale raises ire

That is the closed part of the meeting, where matters are discussed, which the council believes should not be aired publicly.

But at the April 1 meeting, former councillor Anne Wagstaff, who has a reputation for holding the council to account, got up and asked "why the secrecy?".

Mrs Wagstaff said the council was meeting behind closed doors far too often without giving reasons.

She said that before 2013 the council provided reasons for any confidential report, but with the new format of electronic business papers, such information had disappeared.

"How can a member of the public address the council on a matter being discussed in closed session if they don't know what the matter or address is?" she said.

Mrs Wagstaff selected several items from the committee of the whole agenda that she said should not have been discussed behind closed doors.

They included property matters involving 15 and 31 Dora Street. Using 31 Dora Street as an example, Mrs Wagstaff said the council did not provide any reasons justifying its sale before or after the meeting.

"The council discussed this property behind closed doors and decided to sell it by auction in individual lots," she said.

She said that according to local government guidelines, the council could not close a meeting to consider the sale of council-owned land.

Confidentiality was limited to the valuation and the reserve price information.

"Hurstville ratepayers and the Office of Local Government should be concerned about the council discussing the sale of public land behind closed doors — without an existing policy or even providing reasons justifying any sale," she said.

A council spokeswoman said the decision to sell 31 Dora Street, Hurstville, was made public in August 2014.

"The subsequent reports in relation to this matter deal with 'commercial in confidence' information which cannot be discussed publicly," she said.