Griffith Residents and Ratepayers Association vice-president Doug Curran said constant infighting had left many councillors disillusioned.

“My concern is that the disharmony up there means they’re not being effective as a council, so some councillors are saying ‘why bother?’” Mr Curran said.

“We’ve had two meetings abandoned because of a lack of numbers – which is unheard of – and there was also the stunt with the breathalyser.

“This all points to some councillors feeling disillusioned with the way things are being run up there.”

Mayor Dino Zappacosta described the failed meetings as “extremely serious” and asked council general manager Peter Brooks to prepare a report into the attendance of all councillors in the past 12 months.

“I’ve been on council for 21 years and there’s never been a single meeting cancelled without a quorum, let alone two in a month,” Cr Zappacosta said.

“I’ve asked for a report to go to council on attendances because I think it’s important the community know if they’re getting value for money from the people representing them.

“There’s no use some people bleating outside of the chamber.”

One person fuming at the cancelled meeting is former Griffith resident Lou Bellato, who flew in from Sydney to be present on Tuesday when his development application was before council.

“I’ve been mucked around for five years on this DA and on the day when it was finally going to be settled some people couldn’t even bother to turn up,” Mr Bellato said.

Councillor Simon Croce, who has missed only two council meetings in 12 months, said the perception councillors were regularly skipping meetings was erroneous.

“People need to understand that we not only have the council meetings to attend but also up to four or five committee meetings as well,” Cr Croce said.