The City of Onkaparinga has rescheduled its abandoned 17 January council meeting to next Monday 30 January.

A group of around 80 protestors disrupted the previous meeting when they were unable to access the council chamber. The meeting was adjourned and police were called to restore order.

The council has introduced several changes in response to the disruption to ensure meetings can continue safely and effectively.

“Our number one priority is to ensure the public, staff and elected members are safe, and remain safe, when participating in the democratic process of a Council meeting,” Mayor Moira Were says.

The changes include additional seating for the public gallery, increasing its capacity to 35, with reserved seats available for people making a deputation.

The council says the room activated to respond to COVID-19 capacity limits was never designed to be used for public viewing of council meetings, and will now remain locked during meetings.

Security staff will manage a sign-in and sign-out process for all people attending the public gallery, who will be required to provide a name and phone number.

When the public gallery is full, no more people will be allowed to enter the building until someone leaves.

Anyone unable to sit in the public gallery due to capacity limits will be able to view a complete video of the council meeting, along with detailed minutes, both of which are uploaded to the council website, usually on the Thursday following each meeting.

“These changes were informed by our own WHS incident investigation into the disruption at the 17 January meeting, and consultation with other councils, the Local Government Association and SAPOL,” Mayor Were says.

“We will continue to review our WHS risk assessments to ensure they are effective and appropriate.

“Our aim is to facilitate the objectives of the Local Government Act 1999, which includes conducting Council meetings in a place open to the public, while complying with our duty under the Work Health Safety Act 2012 to protect the health and safety of our staff and all other persons who enter our workplace.

“We will not tolerate any disruptive or aggressive behaviour that jeopardises anyone’s safety or attempts to circumvent the democratic process.

“Councils have always been the level of government closest to the community. It is disappointing that the actions of a few have impacted on our ability to maintain a more open and accessible meeting process, but the safety of our people is paramount.”

A report on the possible introduction of live streaming of council meetings will be presented at a future meeting for consideration.

Many other South Australian councils already offer live streaming of meetings and several mandate sign-in and sign-out procedures.

The group that disrupted the 17 January meeting was opposed to a motion for the council to declare a climate emergency.