EAST Hampshire district councillors went into secret session on Thursday to discuss the latest developments at the troubled Sustainability Centre in East Meon.

The Planning South Committee voted to go behind closed doors and members of the public were excluded – but not before an objection from Howard Clarke, husband of Sue Clarke, the chairman of the Sustainability Works board.

He had sat through the meeting waiting for the item to come up on the planning agenda.

When members took their vote he demanded to know under what act the public were being excluded.

"I need to know why you are excluding me. You are excluding me from a public meeting.

"You said this matter was in the public interest and the discussions should be held in council and now you are excluding the public," he told chairman Sue Halstead.

Mrs Halstead told him it was normal practice for councillors to discuss counsel's opinion in closed session.

The troubled green centre suffered a body blow last year when planners claimed that two businesses operating there did not have planning permission.

Permaculture, an environmental magazine, and Convex Marketing had been warned they were operating without permission and could be asked to leave.

In a report to the planning committee at the start of this year Ian Ellis, the planning control manager, said the lawful use of the East Meon site was as a residential training centre.

Planners believed that change of use would not be needed for the centre if the dominant use was as a training and education centre and most people attending were resident and not visiting on a daily basis.

The use of the accommodation block and any other buildings for walkers, cyclists and horse riders on a major scale would need a change of use to C1 planning use and if there were dominating research, design and development activities on the site, they would need planning permission for a change of use to B1.

East Hampshire district councillors were forced to delay their decision on Sustainability Works at the beginning of January when the board came up with new evidence just two days before the planning committee's debate was due to take place.

Mr Ellis told the committee the letter from the solicitor acting for the green centre raised issues which had to be examined carefully. Members agreed to seek the views of their legal department on the centre's letter.

The planning committee went into secret session to look at counsel's opinion.