Trowbridge council squabbling continues as two members reported

The group said that  Liberal Democrat mayor cllr Stephen Cooper did not follow standing orders by refusing the ‘fair and reasonable debate’ on whether to report Cllr Antonio Piazza to the monitoring officer before a vote was held.

The four Conservative group members including Piazza and Daniel Cave, Edward Kirk and his daughter Emily Kirk – walked off in protest at the Trowbridge Town Council meeting on Tuesday.

Cllr Cooper later admitted making a mistake and referred himself to the monitoring officer.

Mayor Cllr Stephen Cooper and Town Council leader Cllr Stewart Palmen (Image: Trowbridge Town Council)

Cllr Piazza was accused of breaching the council’s code of conduct by making statements on his social media page which the council said were untrue.

The council said they included “a number of falsehoods” and one “very serious” accusation of corruption potentially directed at both or either the town council and/or at one or more members of staff.

At the meeting the council was to discuss reporting Mr Piazza to Wiltshire Council's monitoring officer.

It went straight to a vote, with the rest of the council deciding unanimously that Cllr Piazza should be reported to the monitoring officer for further investigation and determination.

Cllr Piazza said: "Suppressing debate on a complaint against a councillor undermines the very pillars of democracy: transparency, fairness, and accountability.

“Not only does it potentially violate the Local Government Act and common law principles, but it also risks eroding public trust and exposes the council to legal challenges.

"Every councillor deserves the right and option to defend themselves adequately. If debate on a complaint against you is suppressed, this compromises your ability to provide your side of the story and infringes upon your rights to a fair hearing.

“Instead, what was experienced was an attempt to create a public flogging and tarnish a councillor's reputation."

Apologising to Cllr Cave, Cllr Cooper said: “As chair of the meeting, it is my responsibility to ensure that the meeting is run according to our Standing Orders.

“I believe that this responsibility is absolute and applies regardless of any advice or guidance that I may at the time have been given by anyone else present.

“I therefore would like to take this opportunity to apologise to you for this departure from Standing Orders and inform you that I shall be referring myself to the monitoring officer at Wiltshire Council over this matter.”