'Absolute joke': Council pays $6,000 to remove a bench

A Sydney council has decided to spend $6,000 to remove a park bench after spending two years arguing about the position of the bench. The bench, donated by a local resident, was positioned on a nature strip in St Ives. Since the seat was installed, the council has carried out multiple traffic and safety studies, commissioned a private consultant to undertake a risk assessment and brought in a mediator to chair a community meeting. One local councillor described the position of the park bench as a "moral issue". The decision to remove the bench was based on a majority vote of Ku-ring-gai councillors during a fractious hour-long council meeting debate.