Councillor Quits Hunter's Hill Council Citing 'Toxic Chamber' and Politicised Decisions

An independent councillor has resigned from Hunter's Hill Council mid-term, citing his mental health and decisions he claims are being made along political lines.

Marc Lane, who was elected in 2024, announced his resignation in a social media video, describing the council as a "toxic chamber". He tendered his resignation to the council on Wednesday last week.

"Being in such a toxic chamber has its effect obviously on your mental health. No-one wants to be a punching bag once a month," Mr Lane said.

"Most of the decisions have been made on party political lines, and neither the community, nor independents, nor expert advice have been listened to in those decisions."

Mr Lane criticised the council's plans to examine 18 parcels of council-owned land for potential sale, some of which is waterfront. He claimed the council is doing this without a financial reason.

"We are literally selling lands just because," Mr Lane said. "No-one's asking for this to be sold."

Mr Lane, who has a background in city planning, also expressed concerns about the proposed redevelopment of Gladesville Shopping Village to add apartments up to 70 metres, which he believes is being pursued without proper debate.

He also alleged that a Liberal councillor had effectively "chilled" him from publicly communicating on social media about local campaigns.

"When you try and do something either speaking to the community or in the chamber … if I try and raise a motion, for example, that we need to address a particular thing … that's a bit of a sport for them," Mr Lane said.

Hunter's Hill Mayor Zac Miles responded to Mr Lane's comments, saying he hoped Mr Lane could get the help he needed and wished him all the best in the future.

In response to Mr Lane's description of the chamber as "toxic", Cr Miles said councillors behaved with integrity and respect as required by the Local Government Act.

"The public is welcome to view recordings of all previous council meetings available on our website which demonstrate a robust and engaged chamber," Cr Miles said.

Cr Miles also stated that the council had not committed to any land sales and that any asset recycling would follow extensive community consultation.

He said the Gladesville Shopping Village rezoning would bring "significant community outcomes" such as public infrastructure in Gladesville, more publicly accessible space and well-located housing opportunities.