Shellharbour City Council's representative on the board, Councillor Peter Moran, said the agreement showed that the "culture of secrecy which got the previous trust offside with the community" still existed.

A number of the new seven-member trust have yet to sign the "far-reaching" confidentiality agreement after their first official meeting last month.

Cr Moran believes it would affect his ability to represent the council on the trust board.

"It would affect my ability to perform my role simply because as a representative of the council I need to know what the council's view on different issues is," he said.

"And I cannot represent the views of the wider community either because I cannot discuss various options or proposals with the wider community."

The agreement would block board members from discussing publicly any trust business or information obtained at meetings.

The former trust came under attack for a perceived lack of transparency, and several new board members have emphasised the need for better community consultation.

"Commercial confidence should be respected at all times, but anything which does not have commercial confidence attached to it, issues of broad policy for the direction of the trust, should be out in the public domain," Cr Moran said.

Trust deputy chair Chris Homer, who raised similar concerns, said he wanted the confidentiality agreement to be raised at the board's next meeting.

One of the first tasks of the new trust will be to review the park's plan of management to ensure it "correctly reflects the aspirations of the community and all user groups".