Cr Houlihan visited the Wimmera Mail-Times office on Friday and maintains he has done "nothing wrong".

He said he had received the independent panel's report on Thursday, but was yet to read it.

"I'm not particularly worried about the suspension, I want some truth to come out in the meantime. If I get pulled up for talking the truth, so be it," he said.

Cr Houlihan said he remained adamant that he had done "nothing dishonest" and said he originally stood for council in 2016 because he was critical of its practices.

"This is how West Wimmera shire treats a volunteer who has been working on this project for more than 10 years," he said.

"I've sent two letters to Premier Daniel Andrews, which have both been answered and they were referred onto the Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek.

"I was alleged that I had written to the Premier as a councillor and not president of the Harrow Recreation Reserve, but that's not true.

"I want to apologise to my constituents for the waste of money which the panel would have cost. I have done nothing dishonest and haven't been telling lies.

"I have nothing to hide. My biggest crime is that I've been a volunteer for 50 years."

He said he planned to run for council again at next year's election.

The Mail-Times has cited the letters to Mr Andrews and other documentation regarding the recreation reserve project which showed the funding applications and their outcomes.

Cr Houlihan said the office of Minister Jaala Pulford contacted him in April 2018 and told him that a $1 million grant application for female friendly changerooms at Harrow Recreation Reserve was successful.

"The condition was that I couldn't tell anybody, so I had to sit on the fact that I was sitting on $1 million," he said.

Cr Houlihan said a Sport and Recreation Victoria representative later told him that the reserve did not have the grant.

He said he was told the application had to go through West Wimmera Shire Council first. Cr Houlihan said this process had not been outlined to him.

He said three other grant applications for the project had been successful. They were $150,000 in 2016 from the drought community support initiative, $105,000 from the AFL and $50,000 from West Wimmera Shire Council.

"That was before the $1 million was announced. I had applied for a $300,000 grant from the council (and received $50,000)," he said.

"That was an extremely hard kick in the guts because in Harrow you have a $1.5 million project going on and in Edenhope you have a $1.5 million project going on (the town hall redevelopment).

"West Wimmera ratepayers have put $700,000 into the hall, while they have put in $50,000 into Harrow."

Construction of the changerooms at the recreation reserve started in January. Cr Houlihan said the finishing touches on the buildings were still needed.

The funding request limit for Sport and Recreation Victoria's Female Friendly Facilities Fund is $500,000.

UPDATE 1.30pm:

A West Wimmera Shire Council application to the independent panel alleged that Cr Houlihan had repeatedly behaved in an aggressive, intimidating and disrespectful manner towards fellow councillors and members of council staff - including chief executive David Leahy and governance officer Elizabeth Matuschka, creating a risk to their health and safety. The application alleged that these behaviours were constituted as bullying.

The independent panel's report outlined the applicant's allegation.

"The applicant's representative outlined how Cr Houlihan in his capacity as president of the Committee of Management of the Harrow and District Recreational Reserve sought and secured significant government funding to provide a modern upgrade to the facilities at the Harrow Recreation Reserve," the report said.

The project was the building of female friendly facilities at the reserve.

The panel's report said Cr Houlihan had been the subject of two formal Councillor Code of Conduct complaints - lodged in June 2018 and December 2018 respectively - relating to "ongoing inappropriate behaviour, consistent with that which led to the application for establishment of this Councillor Conduct Panel".

The complaint made in June 2018 was withdrawn and then subsequently reinstated shortly before council lodged the application before the panel.

The complaint made in December 2018 stemmed from the respondent's conduct regarding management of the state government grant of $1 million allocated for the upgrade of facilities at the Harrow Recreation Reserve.

RELATED: $1 million for Harrow Recreation Reserve

The complaint resulted in mediation between Cr Houlihan and Mr Leahy on January 29, 2019 at Edenhope. As part of the agreement reached at mediation, the respondent was required to make a public statement, which read: "There was never any intention to allege, or give the impression, that there was any corruption or wrongdoing by the CEO, other councillors or other officers of the council or state departments."

Council's application alleged that despite making the statement, Cr Houlihan had "continued to make derogatory, intimidating and threatening statements about West Wimmera Shire Council and staff to local media" while identifying himself as a councillor.

In his evidence before the panel, Mr Leahy said he felt "attacked" by Cr Houlihan, he was "publicly accused of theft" and "constantly harassed" by Cr Houlihan to the point that it has placed both himself and his family under "significant stress".

Ms Matuschka also told the panel of her own dealings with Cr Houlihan, claiming she also felt bullied and was fearful of what he might do.

Cr Richard Hicks gave evidence consistent with that of Mr Leahy and Ms Matuschka, while Cr Jodie Pretlove gave limited evidence to the panel, acknowledging she had personal connections with Cr Houlihan.

The independent panel found that Cr Houlihan had "clearly blurred the lines" between his roles as a private citizen, a member of the committee of management, and as a councillor.

"This has led to a conflict of duties, exacerbated by Cr Houlihan not maintaining clear distinction between his positions - especially when making public statements," the report said.

"He has continued to advocate at council meetings for the Harrow and District Recreation Reserve, which has placed his role on council in a precarious position.

"Cr Houlihan demonstrated a lack of awareness of his actions, a lack of insight into his behaviour and the impact it has on those around him, and an unwillingness to work with his fellow councillors on matters with which he is not politically or socially aligned."

The panel found there was "substantial evidence" to support grounds that Cr Houlihan had breached councillor codes of conduct.

"During his evidence Cr Houlihan was assertive to the point of aggressive, he was dismissive towards the panel members and became fixated on matters not relevant to the application," the report said.

"Despite numerous attempts to redirect Cr Houlihan to the matters at hand, Cr Houlihan was unable to explain, justify or curtail the very behaviour that led to the application being made.

"Instead Cr Houlihan used the hearing as another forum to allege conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and theft on the part of the West Wimmera Shire Council and senior council officers.

"The panel is persuaded by the evidence of all witnesses called, who each acknowledged inappropriate behaviour to varying degrees."

The council's principal conduct officer Ashley Roberts said the outcomes of the report were largely out of the council's hands.

"Cr Houlihan will be suspended for two months until February 20 and won't be able to attend meetings or functions as a councillor during that time," he said.

Mr Roberts said this was the first time a West Wimmera councillor had been suspended.

EARLIER:

WEST Wimmera Shire councillor Tom Houlihan has been suspended from his duties for two months due to conduct complaints.

On Thursday the independent Councillor Code of Conduct Panel handed down its decision regarding a number of conduct complaints made against Cr Houlihan.

The panel made an order to suspend Cr Houlihan from all duties as a councillor for a period of two months effective from Friday.

The panel also made an order that Cr Houlihan take a leave of absence from duties as a councillor for a period of two months to be served concurrently with the term of suspension.

"Effective from December 20, Cr Houlihan will not represent the council at any meetings, committees or community events and will not participate in any council meetings or decision making for a period of two months," a statement from West Wimmera Shire Council said.

"During his period Councillor Houlihan will not engage with the public as a councillor and will not be contactable via his council mobile telephone number or council email address."

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