Brighton councillor faces misconduct hearing

A Brighton councillor has been accused of breaking a code of conduct by being rude about the volunteers running a community association.

Lynda Hyde, who represents the Rottingdean Coastal ward on Brighton and Hove City Council, faces a disciplinary hearing next Thursday (8 November) to answer the charge.

She is accused of having said that members of Saltdean Community Association were “only in it for themselves” as she left a meeting at the end of May.

Councillor Hyde told the investigating officer that she had been misunderstood amid the noise.

In reply to a colleague she had said: “Residents have said to me they are only in it for themselves.”

Her accusers include two Liberal Democrats, Liz Lee and Simon Doyle, who help run the community association.

But Liz Lee has insisted that the complaint was not motivated by party politics.

Councillor Hyde, a Conservative, has offered to apologise for any misunderstanding.

The independent investigation concluded that she did not breach the councillors’ code of conduct by failing to treat others with respect.

It will be up to a cross-party standards panel made up of three of her fellow councillors and an independent member sitting at Hove Town Hall to decide the matter.

The panel members are due to be David Horne, the independent member, and Councillors Jeane Lepper, Ollie Sykes and Andrew Wealls.

The comments were made against a backdrop of a long-running row about Saltdean Lido.