PORT Stephens Councillor Geoff Dingle “absolutely, categorically” denies taking photos of the children of a businessman at the centre of complaints over a Medowie timber business and the leak of a confidential council code of conduct report.
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Cr Dingle has complained to the Office of Local Government, and supporters including Port Stephens MP Kate Washington have rallied behind him, after the report concluded he should make a “personal apology to Mr (Phil) Arnts for your photographing of his property and his children” in March, 2015 outside the Medowie property.
And in the wake of the report being leaked before it’s considered by the council in September, Cr Dingle said on Tuesday: “My question to the council is, where’s the photos of children I’m supposed to have taken?”
Cr Dingle produced a photograph relied on in the report, taken by him in the dark outside the property and showing no child or person, to say the report’s conclusion was “gobsmacking”. The photo and an email sent to council compliance officers Matthew Brown and Marc Goodall on March 25, 2015 showed he was responding to complaints the timber business was operating at night.
“I’m absolutely stunned they could come up with that allegation (of photographing children),” Cr Dingle said.
“There have been genuine and on-going complaints about this business for a lengthy period. I got involved in the first place because of complaints from the Medowie medical centre across the road from the sawmill, among others, that I needed to be doing something about it. It’s my role and my job as councillor to consider what people are saying to me and pass on information to staff to investigate.”
In a response to the code of conduct’s draft report sent to him in July, Cr Dingle told code of conduct reviewer Monica Kelly, of Prevention Partners NSW, that he “flatly denied” taking photographs of “Mr Arnts’ family or anyone else’s family on this site”.
“I have no issues with Mr Arnts’ family. However I do have issue with the owners and operators of the sawmill failing to meet conditions of consent issued by Port Stephens Council staff,” Cr Dingle wrote in his response.
He rejected the report’s conclusion that he had lied about taking any photographs of the property, and asked Ms Kelly to remove it from her final report, saying his response was “solely based on your various allegations that I had taken photographs of the occupant’s family and children”.
In her final report Ms Kelly repeated that Cr Dingle had said he had “never taken photos of the site”, cited his email to Matthew Brown with attached photo, and concluded that “accordingly, I cannot find your testimony credible”.
Cr Dingle on Tuesday said he clearly had never hidden taking a photograph of the property, because he had forwarded it to council officers, but rather than supporting an allegation he had taken photographs of Mr Arnts’ children, it provided proof of what he was saying.
He rejected a finding that he had breached the code of conduct by failing to act “properly, ethically and honestly”. He also rejected that he had photographed the property “at least twice for the purpose of exercising undue influence and being recklessly indifferent to whether the residents of the property were suffering intimidation and harassment through your actions”.
Cr Dingle said he had been outside the site on several other occasions in 2015 with residents and businesses who had complained about the timber business. He questioned why there had been a long delay between the allegations raised against him, from March, 2015, to the matter being investigated only recently.
Kate Washington said she had had complaints about the sawmill over the past 12 months, raising concerns about safety and compliance with conditions.
“I believe this matter against Geoff Dingle is pure politics and it’s nasty pure politics,” she said.
Medowie resident Ron Smith said he had “complained vigorously” about the timber business and sawmill for a lengthy period, including complaints of a timber business operating on site before development approval.
“The council was approached and it did nothing for about seven or eight months. I’ve written a number of emails, but emails don’t make any difference. The council won’t act. I’ve taken photographs outside the property to provide proof to the council of what’s going on there,” Mr Smith said.
“I think the code of conduct is a way of keeping Geoff Dingle quiet.”
In a complaint to the council in August, 2015 three doctors of a Medowie medical centre said they “strongly objected” to the timber business’s operations and had “grave concerns” about safety issues at the site.
Medowie resident Des Maslen said he complained to the council about the timber business more than 18 months ago and questioned how an industrial business could operate on the rural residential site.
“I’ve put in a complaint to the council about what’s going on there and whether that business is complying with its conditions of consent but it’s like a lot of things in Port Stephens. It’s gone nowhere,” Mr Maslen said.
“There’s people at that council who are bullying Geoff Dingle left, right and centre, but from my experience he’s in there sticking up for the rules.”
Monica Kelly said she would not discuss her report.
Mr Arnts said he had no comment to make other than to say he had a copy of the code of conduct report but did not leak it to the Newcastle Herald.
Port Stephens Council general manager Wayne Wallis did not respond to a request for comment.
Port Stephens mayor Bruce Mackenzie said he had no involvement in the code of conduct complaint or report, and had not read it or leaked it.
“I don’t want to look at it. If it comes before council in September, I can assure you I’ll be involved,” he said.
Cr Mackenzie said he believed any issues with the sawmill and timber business had been addressed when the development was approved in 2015.
“I’m not aware of any major developments since then and I haven’t seen anything in writing to say people are still concerned about it,” he said.