The gatherings have occasionally included up to five councillors and a former senior council staff member.

General manager Lindy Hyam was told of the apparently clandestine get-togethers on Monday, several hours before a regular open council meeting was set to consider three anonymous code of conduct complaints against Cr Alison Howlett.

It is not known whether members of the gathering are behind some anonymous code of conduct complaints in recent years which have blown into protracted disputes and cost the council hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mrs Hyam is believed to have spoken to members of the group about their gatherings.

On Monday evening, when the whole council met, the allegations against Cr Howlett were unanimous. The Council take no further action.

About 40 Singleton residents were in the public gallery to witness the decisions, and immediately afterwards, most of them swamped Cr Howlett with congratulations.

In the midst of councillor debate Cr Tony McNamara said he was shocked and horrified to learn of a “faceless group” which he suspected was responsible for “pathetic” and “vengeful” anonymous complaints.

If this were so, it was cowardly politics and character assassination that disregarded financial costs, good governance and community confidence in the council, he said.

Cr McNamara then gained unanimous support from his colleagues for Mrs Hyam to draft a submission to New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell calling for anonymous complaints to be removed from code of conduct proceedings.

His motion drew loud gallery applause.

The three complaints against Cr Howlett alleged she had failed to keep documents confidential and been unethical, disrespectful, discriminatory, overbearing, threatening and pressuring in correspondence with former general manager Scott Greensill.

The allegations arose from 2010 when Cr Howlett sought details from Mr Greensill of the appointment of Henry Wilson as the council’s assistant general manager.

After many attempts to obtain the information Cr Howlett told Mr Greensill she would seek a Supreme Court summons to obtain it if it was not provided within 48 hours. She then spoke to the media about this and another dispute the council was involved in over a property access.

Cr Howlett’s solicitor Alex Irving addressed the council and answered questions from councillors Fred Harvison, Lee Gallagher and Godfrey Adamthwaithe.

Mr Irving said the three complaints against Cr Howlett comprised 21 allegations, of which the council’s contract code of conduct reviewer John Cole found no substance in 19.

As Cr Howlett was entitled to the information she sought, speaking to the media did not constitute pressure, there was no evidence Mr Greensill felt pressured and as Mr Cole’s opinion conflicted with a precedent-setting state pecuniary interest tribunal decision, his opinion was thus an error and should be dismissed, Mr Irving said.

When it came time for a vote Cr Howlett called for a division, that meant all councillors had to clearly indicate their view, and they all raised their hands to support no further action.

Outside the meeting Cr Howlett said: “I’d like to thank community members who supported me and those councillors who also showed genuine support, especially Cr McNamara who called for anonymous code complaints to stop.

“I’ve been made aware of these team gatherings, and in my opinion, if some of these people are responsible for any of these anonymous complaints it’s political assassination that’s also led to a disgraceful waste of money,” she said.

When councillors met informally after Monday’s meeting a heated discussion broke out and two councillors are understood to have been visibly upset.

Mrs Hyam declined to comment to The Argus.