Hutt City Councillor Campbell Barry stepped down from a portfolio in protest at Mayor Ray Wallace's attempts to censure him.

Councillors walked out as Lower Hutt's Mayor staged a behind-closed-door demotion of an outspoken critic.

Mayor Ray Wallace's move has been slammed as a politically motivated "stitch-up" by one councillor while another accused him of running a "kangaroo court".

The bizarre incident was set against the backdrop of the sudden closure of the Naenae learner pool area due to it being structurally-unsound, then a petition to get the Hutt City Council to fix it in a reasonable timeframe.

Supplied Hutt City Councillor Campbell Barry posted this on Facebook, earning a rebuke from the Mayor.

Councillor Campbell Barry had earlier publicly called on the council to make repairs a top priority.

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He alleged the mayor, in public excluded session, told councillors that Barry "made me look bad" in his public comments and he "no longer has confidence in Cr Barry to perform his duties as Deputy Chair of the Finance Committee".

Supplied Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace faced a walkout from some councillors after attempts to reprimand one of his most outspoken critics.

Wallace, in a December 11 meeting, called for an agenda item to be added for a "strategic structure review".

When all staff and public had left, it turned out Wallace's review was a motion to remove Barry from his deputy chairmanship of a committee.

According to Barry - who ended up stepping down from being deputy chair in protest - councillors were not supplied with any information or evidence to support the mayor's claims that Barry brought "ill-repute" on them.

STUFF Councillor Tui Lewis accused Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace of a "politically-motivated stitch-up".

"Many asked for it, but did not get any."

Councillor Lisa Bridson read out the offending Facebook post and said there was nothing wrong with it, labelling the council a "kangaroo court", and leaving in protest.

"I found the whole thing embarrassing. I don't think that is the right way to address problems," she later told Stuff.

Stuff Councillor Lisa Bridson labelled the council a "kangaroo court" before walking out.

Councillor Tui Lewis questioned why the issue was sprung at the last minute with no information. She also asked why Wallace had not gone through a proper code of conduct complaint.

"The mayor sprung this on all of us at the last minute, without providing any valid information," she later said. "The whole thing was a stitch-up and looked politically motivated which is really sad."

Councillor Michael Lulich also left and later told Stuff it was because it had become "heated and emotive and nothing constructive was going to be achieved".

He told others to leave because issues around Barry's deputy chairmanship and Naenae Pool were best held in a January session.

Barry on Thursday said he would not apologise for speaking out.

"The public expects their elected councillors to represent and advocate in the best interests of the community. That's exactly what I have been doing and will continue to do, to make sure the issues at Naenae Pool are fixed as soon as possible. "

"I'm disappointed with what occurred at the council meeting on December 11. It's a sad day when people elected to represent the community face repercussions for doing just that."

Wallace confirmed resolutions were passed to remove Barry from being deputy chair of the finance committee as well as replacing the deputy chair of another committee.

""The issues discussed and dealt with at the meeting are confidential," he said in a statement.

"As it was a public excluded meeting, it would be inappropriate for me to go in to any further detail at this time."

It was a priority for council officers to get reports looking into the Naenae pool so councillors could decide on its future and whether to bring funding forward, he said.



