TROUBLED Petersfield town council took another knock this week as it emerged that Tory councillor Aaron Baird had decided not to stand for any committees. Instead he has voiced a wish to join the Staff Panel in a bid to help solve the "gigantic mess at the town council", which he said had been plagued by rows, aggression and tantrums. He told The Herald this week: "Very sadly this year a number of councillors were organised not to return their committee preference forms and not declare their intentions beforehand, as is normal practice. Personally I have rejected these pre-arrangements as not legitimate by those who organised them." Mr Baird said there were usually more requests from councillors than there were committee places. "So I am not leaving my work to anyone. My work is to serve the people of Petersfield and not some committee title," he said. Explaining why he only wanted to sit on the Staff Panel, Mr Baird told The Herald: "There is an immediate need to stop bringing to the town hall attitudes of bluntness, rudeness, aggression and childlike tantrums. The rows never stop coming." He claimed the great majority of councillors were "an enormous credit" to Petersfield and were to be honoured for their varied talents and efforts in serving the town council. But Mr Baird told The Herald: "The few culprits need to withdraw or resign." "The council has just passed through a very unhappy mayoral year and I am offering to heal the wounds which the officers have suffered, reintroduce good manners and foster mutual helpfulness. It can be done, and I represent the new blood to do the job," he said. "I've made it clear to most councillors and all officers that I'd like the opportunity to deal with the huge problems and upsets which the town hall officers have suffered during the course of the last year, none of which were caused by the officers themselves. The Staff Panel needs new blood and leadership to solve this crisis and I am offering myself to do that job." Mr Baird has already received a letter from town mayor Vaughan Clarke for his failure to put his name forward for committees. In the letter, sent to him last week, Mr Clarke told Mr Baird; "All this committee work does, I realise, take time, but part of the role of a councillor is to give that time for the benefit of the people of Petersfield, which is the sole reason why we all take on the role of councillors. "It is therefore only fair and just that all councillors take a share of that responsibility and not leave all that work to others. "With this in mind the town council have voted you onto the halls committee and I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting on Monday, May 23." He said Mr Baird's request to sit on the Staff Panel would no doubt be considered at the next finance and general purposes committee meeting. Mr Baird's actions are the latest in a string of confrontations which have plagued the beleaguered council over recent months. A collective officer grievance against senior councillor Bob Ayer was heard behind closed doors at the town council in February. A report was prepared by South East Employers, which was then discussed by a specially-convened panel of councillors who made recommendations to full council. The full council agreed that: "Having received the SE Employers report, the council cannot judge councillor R Ayer and are prepared to advise the Standards Board accordingly and that the employers neither uphold or reject the grievance but wish to introduce some recommendations to aid harmonious employment relationships." They then agreed a series of recommendations on working practices. At the time Mr Ayer's wife Hilary, a fellow town councillor, informed councillors she would not attend any more council meetings until the grievance was withdrawn or resolved. She told The Herald earlier this year: "I find the way Bob has been treated by the town clerk and other others intolerable. He has spent many hours working very hard for the town council, especially over the budget for the next year." In addition to the officers' grievance it later emerged that town mayor Brian Dutton had received a complaint against the town clerk and deputy town clerk from the chairman of the grounds committee, Chris Jenner. Later both sides apologised and the complaint was withdrawn.