Robin Knaggs from action group Residents 4 A Greater Shepparton said submitters were only advised late on Friday of the format.
Several members of the public who turned up at Eastbank in Shepparton were denied entry on the basis of COVID-19 restrictions.
Mr Knaggs said similar hearings over the proposed closure of Andrew Fairley Ave were public.
Council received more than 1300 written submissions on Andrew Fairley Ave and heard from 69 people in person at a marathon eight-hour session at Eastbank.
Historically ratepayers requesting to address council on the budget have also made their submissions at formal meetings open to the public.
“It is so wrong, the whole thing stinks, the whole process isn’t transparent,” Mr Knaggs said.
Council publicly advertised its intention to sell/gift the land above the Maude St, Nixon St and Edward St public car park for a social housing development, and The News understands as many as 700 submissions were received.
The controversial proposal came to light at the December 15 council meeting when the project was given in-principle support and councillors voted to advertise the intention to sell the land.
Bill Parsons, one of the first ratepayers to make a presentation, agreed the hearings should have been public.
“I think the whole process is absurd, the way everything is orchestrated,” he said.
Mr Parsons said he received a good hearing and said his message was one that would be repeated many times over the course of the hearings.
“I think by the end the message should be pretty clear to councillors, and hopefully it will be enough that they vote this stupid proposal down,” he said.
Despite the urgent need for new social housing in Shepparton, the proposal has sparked vocal opposition, including from neighbouring Shepparton Ace Secondary College.
Council said the briefing session would be recorded on video and made publicly available on YouTube, likely from mid-March.
The social housing proposal would be a four-storey development, with the ground level returned to council after construction as a public car park.
The proposed development would provide 30 residences on the top two floors and resident parking on the second floor.
