Tensions between Cr MacKenzie and Cr Geoff Dingle had boiled over, again.

In front of them was a mammoth 900-page agenda that had been held over a week.

In protest, Cr Dingle and Cr Peter Kafer had denied the meeting its quorum.

This time it was minimum lot sizes and the suggestion council had bent over backwards to accommodate the developer. Something Cr MacKenzie had vehemently refuted.

“Sit down, Cr Dingle,” Cr MacKenzie said.

“When I stand you sit.”

The two were at odds over the Medowie housing development where the applicant wished to reduce the minimum lot size from 1000 square metres to 500 sq m.

Cr MacKenzie ordered the 30 minute recess and promptly walked from the chambers.

Cr Dingle continued to speak for the benefit of the public who had packed the chamber.

It raised the ire of Cr Ken Jordan.

“Why are you still talking? Stop, stop talking,” he said.

“If you were in the mayor’s chair, would you not expect the same level of respect?”

The deputy mayor, Cr Chris Doohan, chimed in.

“The rules are if the mayor stands up, the councillors must sit,” he said.

Cr Peter Kafer sat back momentarily.

“Just watch what you say,” he said.

Cr Jordan started to respond but Cr Kafer wouldn’t have it.

“Aw, aw, aw,” Cr Kafer continued to call out, mocking.

“Look at you sitting there in your million dollar suit.”

In the gallery, a member of the public was heard to remark, “they should have sold tickets to this”.

The meeting resumed after 20 minutes, when Cr MacKenzie gave the floor over to Cr Dingle for a right of reply. Decorum had returned.

Despite Cr Dingle’s objections to the lot sizes, he was again outnumbered and the application was approved.

It set the tone for the rest of the agenda. Aside from a few stirrings the councillors ploughed through the 900-page business paper, similar in size to a small town’s White Pages telephone directory.

Including the 20 minute recess the bulk of the items were dealt with in two hours before they closed the chambers to deal with confidential matters.

Councillors Paul Le Mottee and John Morello were apologies.

The 900-page agenda that sparked a walkout on the last Port Stephens Council meeting was set to be tackled once and for all on Tuesday night.

Councillors Peter Kafer and Geoff Dingle walked out of the July 25 council meeting after Cr Dingle’s motion to deal only with essential business matters in the 946-page agenda was defeated.

Cr Dingle argued that it was “unfair” a new council should have to deal with the consequences of the decisions they made.

The walkout deprived Mayor Bruce MacKenzie of a quorum and the meeting was rescheduled to August 1.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, Cr MacKenzie said he expected to have a quorum, even if councillors Dingle and Kafer walked out of the meeting again.

“People deserve answers for their queries and applications,” he said. “They don’t want to wait around until October, after the election.”

The monster council agenda contained more than 30 items for councillors to address. It was to be the final meeting before the September 9 local government election.

Councillors Paul Le Mottee and John Morello were not expected to attend Tuesday’s meeting.