A councillor has apologised after an investigation concluded he breached a council’s code of conduct.

Rother District Council’s standards committee, on Friday (July 31), discussed the results of a code of conduct complaint against Councillor Connor Winter, Conservative member for Bexhill St Marks.

The committee heard the complaint had been made by council leader Doug Oliver, following a meeting on July 14, 2025.

The meeting saw councillors discuss a petition about Bexhill Colonnade, which called on the authority to “guarantee” traders based in the listed building a “right to return” after the completion of refurbishment work.

The complaint concerned comments made by Cllr Winter about a motion, which had been the council’s formal response to this petition.

Cllr Winter did not attend the standards committee meeting, but a statement signed in his name was included among the papers as part of the agenda.

Cllr Winter’s statement said: “I have agreed a local resolution of the standards complaint concerning comments I made at and following the council meeting on 14 July 2025.

“An independent investigation found that my conduct breached paragraphs 1.1, 1.2 and 5.1 of Rother District Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct.

“I acknowledge that my comments caused concern and had the potential to undermine confidence in officers, members and the council’s decision-making process.

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“I apologise to those affected. I will raise any future procedural concerns through appropriate council channels and will undertake refresher training on the Code of Conduct, member/officer relations and use of social media.”

The full code of conduct can be found on the council’s website.

The sections Cllr Winter was found to have breached require councillors to: treat other councillors and members of the public with respect (1.1); treat council employees, partners and volunteers with respect and to respect the role they play (1.2); and not bring their own role or the council as a whole into disrepute (5.1).