Rows at an Isle of Wight Council meeting on Tuesday night led 1 member to compare the situation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with security having to escort 2 other members out of the chamber.
At the authority’s planning committee meeting, tempers flared between 2 councillors – chair of the committee Councillor Michael Lilley and Councillor Geoff Brodie, who is the council’s chairman – when they continually butted heads.
The meeting was adjourned twice to sort out points of contention between the pair, who in recent years been allies in a short-lived ‘1957 Group’ within County Hall.
The arguments led to an outburst during one of the pauses from Councillor Vanessa Churchman. Before leaving the meeting to attend another, Cllr Churchman said:
“You can understand why there is a war in Ukraine, because when you men get together you are bloody impossible.
“I could spit. Democratic process my foot. Having slanging matches does not solve anything.”
The outburst followed a heated discussion around a proposed code of practice review for the planning committee. Cllr Brodie was against the review and criticised Cllr Lilley’s committee chairmanship, also alleging the Ryde councillor had made libellous comments about him in an email to planning committee members about West Acre Park.
He said if Cllr Lilley was going to behave like that, he needed to learn how to stand up to him instead of being a coward.
Tempers boiled over again before a motion to reconsider the West Acre development was heard, with Cllr Brodie wishing to raise 10 points of information, before it could be discussed. 1 point revolved around the phrase ‘Planning Protocols Working Group’, in the motion, with Cllr Brodie not being able to find mention to it anywhere in the council.
A working group had been approved earlier in the meeting, after acting in an informal capacity previously, to deal with the code of practice review, but in the papers debated it was not officially dubbed the Planning Protocols Working Group.
Cllr Brodie repeatedly asked where that was mentioned, and asked how it could be used in the motion when no such group existed. He was told by Cllr Lilley the ruling had been made and to move on, although he did not.
Cllr Lilley tried to ‘silence’ Cllr Brodie — allowing him to stay in the meeting but not be heard — and was seconded by Councillor Dave Adams, before Councillor Matt Price intervened. Cllr Price said while Cllr Brodie was being unreasonable, he was not willing to silence another member.
Instead, Cllr Price proposed the meeting be adjourned and said:
“We are putting the staff, public and press under far too much tonight. No one wants to sit here and listen to this or be amongst this any longer. I certainly don’t.”
The West Acre motion will now be bought to another planning committee meeting.
Tensions escalated further after the meeting when angry words were exchanged resulting in security escorts for both councillors.
Unfortunately in today’s news every event is scrutinised by the media this only fuels what the public thinks of local politics and those that make decisions,so I say try and be civil in your meetings because situations like this doesn’t bode well and reputations let’s have a professional Council and Councillors respect and anti bullying is foremost
How on earth can you expect anybody to take you seriously????
You are Meant to be an alliance, not squabbling little oiks !!!
Nursery school children have more sense !!!!!!
Grow up !
Pathetic totally pathetic.
Don’t think I can be bothered to vote for any local elections…
Not worth getting out of bed for…..
Councillor Brodie throwing his weight around yet again and bringing our council into disrepute. It is about time this man was removed to set an example to others that such behaviour will not be tolerated. The members are there to DEBATE important issues which affect the whole of the Island, they should be allowed to do that unhindered by a vocal bully.
If the Chairman was unstable before being appointed, his new powers seem to have sent him off his trolley.
You’ve had a good crack and done a good job, Geoff. Time to hang up the gloves.
I think that it is healthy for local democracy to disergee and be passionate about there own individual opinions, otherwise why bother to vote.
The old fashioned way of doing things i.e. the vicar of Dibley, don’t work.
That’s outrageous to compare the Council meeting to what’s happening in Ukraine.
It’s embarrassing that our Councillors are behaving in this way. Get on with the jobs in hand and grow up!
None of them are fit to serve. Children in pig boys pants
brodie and the others are just tin pot wannabe politicians – they think they have power, but have virtually none and what they do have, they use in the wrong ways and then spend hours pointing the blame, point grabbing and look at me, arent I great, grandstanding.
these fools are not fit to work in the council at all, ever.
no westacre – get rid of it.
Last week they squabbled over golliwogs and now this,what a pathetic lot.
These are the people elected to run our Island.
Either grow up or get out.