Warrnambool City Council has spent $14,000 successful defending itself against several allegations of impropriety raised by councillors Peter Hulin and Jennifer Lowe.
Mayor Michael Neoh revealed that the duo had made various complaints about himself, the council and its staff which had been investigated either by independent auditors, the Ombudsman or the Local Government Inspectorate.
"Council was cleared of any wrongdoing on every occasion at a total cost to council of $14,000," Cr Neoh said yesterday.
The council yesterday released a copy of a report, prepared by WHK, into the council's handling of the contentious tender process for the Allansford industrial estate.
It found that any suggestions of corruption or mismanagement could not be substantiated.
"We identified no inappropriate action or impropriety by any WCC officer in relation to the EOI process for the disposal of land," the report concludes.
Cr Neoh said the council commissioned the study as a result of "misinformation and conjecture" about the expressions of interest system.
"On four separate occasions council has been provided with full details about the EOI process for the sale of Allansford land," he said.
"The independent audit report has verified that information provided to Council on many previous occasions was correct, and that council followed proper procedures."
He slammed the actions of Cr Hulin and Cr Lowe, who yesterday admitted they secretly taped a confidential meeting to prepare a submission for the state Ombudsman and passed a copy of the tape to The Standard.
"This situation is a disgrace. Councillors releasing confidential information to a third party is unethical, unprincipalled and damaging," Cr Neoh said.
"Now that it has been confirmed... due process needs to take place to in relation to this serious issue."
The WHK report found some flaws in the handling of the land sale, finding the expression of interest documentation was inadequately drafted and the process poorly managed.
But it validated the council's decision to withdraw from the process, finding that if it went ahead with Moyne's request to open the tenders it "may have exposed the council to risk" for excluding WCB's bid.
The report also cleared Warrnambool chief executive Bruce Anson of any wrongdoing in contacting WCB about the tender process and environmental issues surrounding the site.
"Given the objective of the EOI is to generate any many potentially interested parties to lodge an interest, it is entirely appropriate that such contact should be made," the report read.
The report only assessed the actions of the city council and not its joint partner, Moyne Shire.
It was based entirely on interviews with personnel and documentation provided by WCC.
Email a friend