Stop stalking: Councillor

By Shaun Inguanzo
A GREATER Dandenong councillor is seeking an intervention order against a Springvale resident who says he has been lobbying the councillor over its Weekend Bus Service.
Lyndale Ward councillor Sue Walton this week said the man ‘stalked’ her by confronting her in a council car park, wrote a letter requesting she resign, left multiple phone messages and attended council meetings.
The communication between the two parties occurred before and after Cr Walton voted on 23 January to support council’s hotly-debated Weekend Bus Service.
Springvale resident Hayden Robson has been summonsed to appear before Dandenong Magistrates’ Court for a civil hearing on Monday 6 March, and said this week an interim order had already been handed down, preventing him from going within 200 metres of Cr Walton.
But Mr Robson this week dismissed claims of stalking and harassment, and said he had only been lobbying Cr Walton not to continue funding the Weekend Bus Service as he felt it was too costly to ratepayers.
“I was simply lobbying about the council bus service and exercising my democratic right,” he said.
“I guess you could say the decision (to continue funding it) reflects poorly on the entire council.”
He said he was disappointed that Cr Walton did not offer him a warning that she was filing for an intervention order.
Mr Robson said he would not appear in court to defend the order, and regardless of the decision, would never again attend council meetings, or contact Cr Walton again.
The vote – cast at the 23 January council meeting – saw council reject a recision motion by Noble Park North Ward councillor Maria Sampey, aimed to stop funding the Weekend Bus Service by end of February, not April.
Prior to the vote, Cr Walton said Mr Robson had attempted to make contact with her, leaving several voice messages in January on her mobile phone urging her to vote in favour of the recision.
But following her vote against the motion, Cr Walton said a confrontation between her and Mr Robson on 24 January outside the Springvale council chambers left her feeling threatened, and prompted her to give a statement to local police.
After exiting her car to enter the chambers, Cr Walton said Mr Robson approached her, yelling angrily at her for voting in favour of the Weekend Bus Service.
“He said ‘oh that bloody weekend bus service, I am going to write to someone, I am going to get you sacked from council.’
“He said ‘I am not gonna leave you alone unless you are gone and forgotten’.”
Cr Walton said the comments incited her to defend herself by telling Mr Robson, “I would like to be addressed in an appropriate way, not the way you approached me.”
Cr Walton said she last week received a letter from Mr Robson calling for her resignation, which she handed to police ‘as evidence’.