Hastings District Council has been accused of "playing secret squirrel" with ratepayers' money after a meeting about a planned Civic Square upgrade was held behind closed doors.
Councillor Simon Nixon said he was opposed to the public being excluded from yesterday's council meeting.
"With Civic Square, I just felt that we are talking spending, potentially about $12 million, of which a large chunk is going to be funded by the ratepayers. To be discussing that, outside the public limelight, I can't live with that. I thought, no, this is just fundamentally wrong, with such a large amount of money."
He said six councillors in total had been opposed to the public's exclusion.
"I thought it was very significant. It indicated a shift in ground that people are occupying - that this is not right. I think our rule should be we never throw the public out unless it's absolutely imperative."