Two councillors stormed out of the Isle of Wight Planning Committee last night, in an explosive start to the meeting.
Before the committee could consider the issue of 150 new homes at Gunville, there were accusations of untrue and insulting comments, with one member described as acting like a child not getting their own way.
Over the approval of minutes of the last, controversial, planning meeting, Cllrs Chris Jarman and Dave Adams, both decided to leave the meeting.
Jarman: Wait for legal proceedings before approving minutes
Cllr Jarman put forward a point of order and motion to not approve the minutes until any judicial review or legal proceedings had been dealt with, due to a solicitor’s letter sent to the council over the West Acre Park decision.
Cllr Jarman said any approval of the minutes before the legal process, whatever stage it is at, had a ‘high probability of undermining the credibility of the committee and the council’, potentially leaving the council with large costs.
The motion was rejected by the acting chair, Cllr Geoff Brodie, who said Cllr Jarman was exaggerating the position of the West Acre decision.
Legal proceedings not started
Legal advice from council officer, Ben Guard, said it was not a valid motion as a motion can only relate to an alleged breach of procedure rules or the law and he had heard nothing to suggest it had been.
He confirmed a letter from concerned residents had been sent to the council but it did not constitute pre-action protocols under civil procedure so it was not accurate to say legal proceedings had started.
Mr Guard said he could see no reason why the minutes had to be deferred.
Jarman: Meeting was ‘out of order’
Deciding to leave the council chamber, Cllr Jarman said he believed the meeting was out of order and ‘declined to continue’, with Cllr Adams joining him.
Before the motion was rejected and he left the meeting, Cllr Adams got into a spat with Cllr Brodie over the proceedings of the previous motion.
Brodie accused of causing friction
Cllr Adams said installing Cllr Brodie as chair, while Cllr Lilley stepped out, was an issue of the previous meeting, ‘which raised very serious’ concerns for himself as Cllr Brodie was the person who ’caused all the friction’.
Cllr Adams would not withdraw his comment so Cllr Brodie adjourned the meeting until Cllr Adams left.
Brodie: Comments were untrue, false and ‘frankly insulting’
Cllr Brodie took advice from council staff and, resuming the meeting, said the comments were untrue, false and ‘frankly insulting’ and Cllr Adams was acting like a child who did not get their own way.
A vote was then proposed to not hear from Cllr Adams for the rest of the meeting by Cllr Brodie, but the motion fell as no councillor seconded it.
The planning meeting primarily discussed applications for 149 proposed homes in Gunville, but concerns were raised by more than one councillor. Story to follow.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
