Apologies all round as Arun council meeting wraps up on fourth attempt

David Huntley (Ind, Pagham) made his comment during a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (January 13), when Sandra Daniells (Arun Independent Group, Pevensey) abstained from voting on plans to spend £500,000 on a revamp of Bognor’s sunken gardens.

Apologising for his words, Mr Huntley said: “It was completely wrong of me. I apologise unreservedly. It was unforgivable behaviour. It was conduct not appropriate to a councillor.”

While Mrs Daniells waved off the insult, saying she didn’t hear what was said and wasn’t bothered, others were not so ready to let it slide.

Andy Cooper (Con, Angmering & Findon) called Mr Huntley’s words ‘unacceptable’ and announced that he had reported the issue to the standards committee, which looks into any breaches of the council’s code of conduct.

Mr Huntley’s wasn’t the only apology offered during the meeting.

Francis Oppler (Lib Dem, Orchard), Paul Dendle (Con, Arundel & Walberton) and Grant Roberts (Con, Arundel & Walberton) also said sorry for their conduct during the last full council meeting, in November.

That meeting was adjourned three times and saw some extremely bad-tempered exchanges between councillors as well as a call for a vote of no confidence in Mrs Worne’s chairmanship.

Things got so bad that the ‘extremely angry’ monitoring office, Nicholas Bennett, hauled them across the coals for their ‘unedifying display’ of ‘rudeness, disrespect and a failure to stop and listen to others’.

Efforts have been made to make sure meetings are more civil, with group leaders sending out messages to members about their conduct.

No doubt time will tell if those messages hit home.