THE controlling Conservative group on BCP Council has been accused of ‘autocratic behaviour’ after stopping an opposition councillor from being heard.

Poole councillor Mark Howell says the ruling group is using council protocols to avoid being held to account for its decisions.

He says he was gagged at Tuesday evening’s full council meeting after trying to persuade the meeting to allow an opposition councillor to sit on the board of the newly formed Urban Regeneration Company.

A majority vote, put by Cabinet member Cllr Nicola Greene, decided that he should not be further heard two hours into the meeting which continued for almost five hours. She said Cllr Howell has shown “disrespect to the council” by continuing to try and make his points and that he should be excluded under the council’s rules of conduct.

“This was extremely autocratic behaviour and prevented me from contributing to important debates on the administration’s proposal to enter into a loss-making investment in fibre and approve an application for City status by Bournemouth,” said Cllr Howell, the Poole People group leader.

Cllr Howell claims the Conservatives have also reconfigured scrutiny committees, which put council decisions and policies to the test,  to give their party a majority on all of them, enabling them to suppress criticism.

He said he asked for an opposition councillor to sit on the Urban Regeneration Company to “ensure proper governance and give confidence in its future to the public, developers, investors and future residents.”

Cllr Howell, who is the opposition spokesman on tourism, leisure and culture and council wellbeing champion, says that when the Unity Alliance was in control of the council it added a Conservative councillor to the board of Bournemouth Development Company (BDC) for this reason.

“The stated intention of the administration is to include only the Leader and Deputy Leader as councillor reps’ on the board of the Urban Regeneration Company. This amendment was ruled out by officers and in his response the Leader, (Cllr Drew Mellor),  justified not including opposition members by stating that this was a council wholly owned subsidiary, not a joint venture like BDC,” said Cllr Howell.

Cllr Mellor said the council’s development plans were “world-class place making” which was attracting people of high calibre to work in the area. He said his administration would continue to invest in the area, despite criticism from opposition councillors.

Cllr Philip Broadhead, deputy leader, said the same issue raised by Cllr Howell was addressed, and turned down, at an overview and scrutiny committee.

“What we need more of, at board level, is more outside involvement…to bring in as much talent as possible, not to have more councillors,” he said.

Earlier in the meeting opposition councillors decided not to vote on the accuracy of council minutes following a statement from  councillor Margaret Phipps that they contained “falsehoods” and “misinformation” in reported statements at the previous meeting, although the accuracy of the minutes, as recorded, were not being questioned.

Cllr Mellor said he stood by what he had previously said.