A weekly newspaper has continued to fight for openness after exposing a “secret and undemocratic” vote by councillors over plans for new film studios.

Earlier this year the Bucks Free Press revealed that 11 Marlow Town councillors participated in an off-record vote in which they agreed to “fully support and not raise any objections” to the large-scale development on their patch.

The move was described at the time by Little Marlow Parish Council member Anna Crabtree as “secret and undemocratic”.

The Free Press has now published an email thread in which a senior officer at Buckinghamshire Council criticised the town councillors’ actions in response to a Marlow resident’s complaint under the local government Members Code of Conduct.

Glenn Watson, principal governance officer for legal and democratic services at Buckinghamshire Council, told resident Colin McCulloch that the councillors in question had not breached the Code of Conduct, as they were entitled to express their personal views.

However, he also admitted that the incident had been “unusual and odd” and had caused “considerable consternation and reputational fallout”.

Mr Watson wrote: “[The problem was with] the way the original submission was discussed and drafted which referred to councillors meeting up together, having a discussion and voting.

“These are things usually associated with formal meetings. No one needs to vote on something they can do as of right.

“It is to be hoped that Marlow Town Council’s members will have learned the governance lessons so that this does not occur in the future.”

A spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Council told the Free Press the authority was not responsible for the governance arrangements of parish or town councils. Marlow Town Council declined a request for comment.

Eleanor Burleigh, the reporter who has been covering the film studio plans, told HTFP: “The story was thanks to the determination of residents who want to hold their local authorities to account and shows the value of forming close community contacts who alert you to important correspondences such as this.”

Free Press editor Katie French added “Local councils of all levels must be accountable for their decisions and in this case, Eleanor’s reporting has drawn attention to a controversial ‘private vote’ held by Marlow Town Council behind closed doors which has rightly caused concern in the community about the authority’s processes.

“When officials act in an unusual manner, it is crucial local journalists shine a light on such actions so that the public can hold them to account.

“Eleanor has done a great job at working with contacts in the community to bring this series of stories about.”