Conservative councillor Paul Funnell has joined a growing chorus calling on Mr Eldridge to voluntarily stand down or be stood down by mayor Greg Conkey to allow for an investigation into what he knew of his son’s involvement in a property development subject to an application for rezoning from farmland to housing. 

Cr Funnell was not satisfied with Mr Eldridge’s assurances he was on solid legal ground despite failing to disclose his son had a financial stake in a planning matter debated in chambers on three separate occasions.

“It’s not for Alan Eldridge or his lawyers to decide what's right and wrong,” Cr Funnell said.

“He sat in on three meetings without disclosing his son was involved, which is a clear breach and must be investigated.

“I don't like wasting money on lawyers but it comes back to accountability; the cost of this breach could pale into insignificance compared to the potential ramifications.”

Mr Eldridge has admitted he has a pecuniary interest in the planning application but has denied any knowledge of his son’s involvement at the time it was deliberated on, which is a valid excuse under the law.

Cr Funnell said the matter should be referred to the Office of Local Government and the Independent Commission Against Corruption as a matter of due process.

First-term Labor councillors Vanessa Keenan and Daniel Hayes will call on mayor Greg Conkey to suspend Mr Eldridge on Monday night if he does not voluntarily stand down earlier.

In a joint statement, Ms Keenan and Mr Hayes said the conflict was easily identifiable from documents in the public domain.

“The public expect a high standard in accountability and transparency in those involved in local government, we too accept those high standard for ourselves and others,” they said.

“Therefore we call for the suspension of the general manager and an independent investigation to look further into this matter.”

The Labor pair said Wagga’s trust in their local government was at risk.

“We must work tirelessly to earn the trust of the public, therefore we expect those involved in government to be acutely aware of the possibility of these conflicts arising and to actively seek out whether a conflict exists or not,” they said.  

“It would be considered best practice for the General Manager to step down for a temporary period to allow an appropriate investigation to take place. Were this option to not be taken we will be pushing for a suspension.”

Mr Eldridge has welcomed a councillor-led investigation, but he said the value “would not be much… the advice I have from lawyers is there’s no legal grounds to step aside”.

Mr Eldridge “feels really bad” about undermining public perception of council, but put it down to “politically motivated” “mud throwing” and maintained his ignorance was a valid defence to his conflict of interest. 

“People have tried to paint a perception there’s impropriety but I assure you there isn’t,” Mr Eldridge said.

“This is just people trying to portray a situation that doesn’t exist.”