Councillor Martin Tighe said he had been ‘silenced by the gavel’ with another member stating he’d ‘never known such rank bad manners at a town council meeting’
A council meeting was suspended after just seven minutes with members voting to ‘remove’ a councillor after a row about a town centre regeneration.
The Liberal Democrat group on Westhoughton Town Council said that for the first time in 40 years, a Westhoughton town council meeting had to be suspended, with members voting to exclude Conservative member Coun Martin Tighe after they alleged he was ‘verbally abusive’.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has spoken to Coun Tighe and other members present at the meeting, held on Monday, June 29.
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One said that following to a written question from the member of the public, Coun Tighe accused Liberal Democrat members of being ‘lying b*stards‘ over previous planning proposals for larger windows in town hall building.
Another member present alleged that Coun Tighe ‘refused to listen to the chair and spoke over other councillors’.
In a statement Coun Tighe said he was ‘kicked out for calling out the Lib Dem lies regarding Westhoughton Town Hall regeneration’.
He added that the chair of the meeting ‘used the gavel to silence me’.
It is understood that deputy town Mayor, Coun Linda Maher, who was chairing the meeting, unsuccessfully called for order several times during the short meeting.
A vote was then passed by a majority of 11-2 councillors to exclude Coun Tighe from the meeting.
Veteran councillor and former Mayor of Bolton, Labour’s David Chadwick, who was first elected to the town council in 1994, said: “The chair tried to stop any further discussion as it wasn’t relevant to agenda item.
“Eventually he (Coun Tighe) was asked to leave the meeting, because he wouldn’t accept the chair’s ruling.
“Again he was asked to leave and Coun Tighe then asked who would be forcing his removal.
“He was eventually persuaded to leave the meeting by which time the meeting had been adjourned for a later date.”
Coun Chadwick added: “I’ve never known such rank bad manners by anyone at any previous town council meeting.”
Liberal Democrat councillor David Wilkinson said: “Conservative councillor Martin Tighe refused to listen to the chair and spoke over other councillors.
“When asked to stop, he refused.
“Because of this, the council took the extremely rare step of formally naming him for disreputable conduct.
“When it was then moved that he leave the meeting, he again refused.
“It’s deeply disappointing to see this kind of conduct from an elected representative.”
Coun Tighe said: “I was kicked out of Westhoughton Town Council for calling out the Lib Dem lies regarding Westhoughton Town Hall regeneration.
“They voted to expel me from the meeting for highlighting that the town hall would have opened over two years ago if it was not for Lib Dem lies, and if I may speak frankly, their total bullsh*t.
“The Lib Dems use the gavel to silence anything that they don’t like and I’m sick of it.
“If someone says something they don’t like they just shut it down saying ‘you’re out of order’.
“They say point of order but don’t say which point of order and then bang the gavel.
“They gavel people into silence . “They’ve done it to me many, many times.
“By silencing me it’s not saying to people I’m lying, it’s saying to people they are scared of what I have to say.”
Westhoughton town council has 18 councillors.
Twelve are Liberal Democrats, three are Labour, there are two Conservatives and one Independent.
The suspension of the meeting meant agenda items about a new play area and crossing facilities, planning applications, and a road safety update from the youth council’s primary school children were not discussed.
The next meeting of the town council is scheduled for Monday, July 13.
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