A PROMINENT councillor has been told he must apologise to Newquay’s mayor after making allegations against him.

Town councillor Louie Gardner, the cabinet member for the economy, was found to have breached Newquay Town Council’s code of conduct for implying on social media that mayor Cllr Drew Creek has his own private office in the Mount Wise building, which is costing the authority £1,000 a week.

Simon Mansell, the group manager (assurance) at Cornwall Council, concluded there “seems to be no basis” in the allegation after he upheld the complaint brought by the deputy mayor Cllr Margaret North and town clerk Andrew Curtis.

Cllr Creek, who represents the Green Party, said the office is leased to Community Pharmacy Cornwall, an NHS body where he is employed as the chief operations officer.

He said the lease predates his involvement with the town council, and that Cllr Gardner was “aware of this, having reportedly signed the original lease himself.”

Mr Mansell said that Cllr Gardner must also apologise to the mayor for his statement made, which implies he was not allowed to ask further questions at the meeting of the town council when the budget was considered.

Mr Gardner, who represents the Conservative Party, said that he categorically refutes all claims made by Newquay Town Council in their complaint against him.

He added the allegations are “entirely baseless, misrepresenting the facts and his actions” and that he has “conducted himself with integrity, transparency, and in full compliance with all applicable rules and standards.”

Mr Gardner said: “I feel justified using the word personal.

“I would suggest that if Cllr Creek his employer wanted to avoid confusion on this matter they should not use the office for public meetings of a public body at the invitation of councillor Creek and should not use the office for personal childcare purposes, both of which give a very strong impression of a ‘personal’ office, irrespective of the interpretation of the word personal.

“I also maintain that local councillors have the right to free speech, a fundamental democratic principle that ensures they can represent their constituents without undue restrictions.”

The code of conduct complaint stated Cllr Gardner posted a video on his councillor Facebook page, which has been seen by more than 1,000 people to date, which was “false” and “misleading.”

Cllr Creek said: “Cllr Gardner should know better than to attempt to mislead the public.

“My employer has a long-standing lease with Newquay Town Council, which predates my involvement with the council.

“Cllr Gardner knew this, as I believe he even signed the original lease.

“Additionally, my employer has seen its fees increase, likely by the highest margin of any tenant at that site in the past year.”

Mayor Cllr Creek also addressed Cllr Gardner's criticism of him bringing his daughter to work, a practice approved by his employer.

He highlighted the hypocrisy of these comments, given that Cllr Gardner claimed £12,700 in childcare expenses last year on top of his Cornwall councillor salary, totalling £56,602.

Cllr Creek said: “I was shocked that Cllr Gardner would attack me for taking my daughter to work, something my employers fully support.

“It is particularly rich coming from someone whose childcare costs have been footed by Newquay taxpayers.

“I am glad the complaint has made it clear that Cllr Gardner was wrong to mislead our community in this way.

“I am unsure what he hoped to achieve with these statements, but I am certain that such behaviour has no place in our principled democratic society. It needs to stop.

“I look forward to him apologising for his online statements.

“I would further like to thank the town clerk for his ongoing work as a dedicated public servant and champion of our great town.”

Cllr Gardner told the Voice: “I am hugely disappointed the mayor has resorted to a personal attack like this but it is to be expected in the run up to an election.

“I recently highlighted that last year the Mount Wise building had a deficit of over £52,000 in its running costs, a building where Cllr Creek has his office.

“The building continues to lose money every single year it has been in town council ownership after an initial cost of over £1 million to the residents of Newquay.

“I have highlighted this again and again at the town council but have always been overruled by the mayor and his Green Party cronies.

“The people of Newquay deserve answers on this.

“Why does he keep on insisting on the taxpayers paying for a building in which he has a financial interest?

“I also highlighted the £102,000 the town council have wasted on the Railway Station toilets.

“Through ill-conceived, poorly made decisions from Green Party councillors these toilets have cost double what they were supposed to.

“Despite clearly false promises from the mayor that these toilets were vandal proof, they have spent much of the last year closed to vandalism.

“And remain in a shabby and poor state through mismanagement.

“I will never shy away from highlighting the money that the town council is wasting under the stewardship of this mayor or the 28 per cent rise in council tax precept he bulldozed through last year.

“It seems the mayor is upset that anyone would dare to criticise him and his mistakes and has used the code of conduct as a weapon as he vies for his own seat on Cornwall Council.

“I will always put the needs of Newquay and its residents before the feelings of town councillors.”

The incident follows a recent code of conduct complaint filed by former Conservative turned Reform town councillor Nick Morris, who complained Cllr Creek attended a protest regarding the future of Cornwall Council's community car parks., which was dismissed.