Hawkesbury councillor in court for bridge protest

Councillor Pete Reynolds appeared at Windsor Court charged with unlawful entry on enclosed lands after he refused to leave old Windsor Bridge during a peaceful demonstration last month against its planned demolition.

Windsor’s 1874 bridge as workers began demolition. Pic courtesy of Paul Caleo

“I stood in Windsor Court House and pleaded guilty to that charge – for that I was fortunate to receive a Section 10 and have no conviction recorded,” Mr Reynolds said after yesterday’s court appearance.

A Section 10 allows a Court to find you guilty of an offence, but to discharge the matter without recording a conviction. This means you will not receive a criminal record for that offence.

“As I stood in our beautiful 200-year-old court house, I was reminded of the hundreds of people who have passed through its doors, many of them far less fortunate than myself,” Mr Reynolds said.

“Like both Thompson Square and Windsor Bridge, our court house provides a tangible, unsanitised link to Australia’s past. That parts of this heritage can be erased on a political whim is despicable, especially when the result appears to have negligible community benefit.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all those wonderful people who have shown their support, both today and during the course of our long protest.”