Panel independence questioned
Following his censure on Code of Conduct breaches, Cr Peter Freewater has questioned the independence of Council's conduct review panel, which includes former Gosford councillors Mr Trevor Drake and Mr Peter Hale.
Cr Freewater said the reviewer in his case had an on-going relationship with the council and therefore was not independent.
Peninsula News asked Gosford Council's director of organisational development Mr Terry Thirlwell what tests were used to ensure those appointed to the review panel were independent.
Mr Thirlwell said the external reviewers employed by Council were "selected on the basis of their skill and experience and their knowledge of local government and also the law".
"We go outside the council and we look for the person that has that experience and has the professional status and is governed by certain professional regulations or code.
"It would not be in the interest of Council or any person being accused of breaches to not have someone that is independent from Council."
For the investigation into allegations against Cr Freewater, "the person that we have is a qualified, practicing solicitor who is very experienced in the law and is very well abreast with all the procedural fairness and the code of conduct and understanding of legislation," he said.
Mr Thirlwell said this particular solicitor has been used on a number of occasions by Council.
"We have used him before to carry out investigations across a range of things as an independent reviewer and that's why we've engaged that person.
"We provide the information to him and that's all we give and then they make their assessment based on the information they have in front of them.
"They carry out their investigations independently from us.
"They interview and follow up independently from us and if they need any further information from us we will provide that and then at the end of that they provide a report back to us," said Mr Thirlwell.
Kaitlin Watts, 14 Sep 2011
Interviewee: Terry Thirlwell, Gosford Council