STIRLING mayor Mark Irwin has withdrawn an appeal at the State Administrative Tribunal and will have to apologise for accusing a former councillor of “hypocrisy”, but in doing so will save the council a potential $10,000 legal bill.

Mr Irwin had been found by the Local Government Standards Panel to have committed a minor breach of council’s standards after allowing a debate with former councillor Simon Wheeler over a proposed Scarborough Beach boardwalk to “spiral” during question time back in June 2024.

The panel said Mr Irwin let a retort from Mr Wheeler get under his skin, and while he should have stopped after answering a question, he continued and let his personal attitude affect his neutrality. 

Late last year Mr Irwin successfully applied to have his legal costs covered by the City, but it came with a proviso that if his appeal was unsuccessful the money would have to be returned.