Burnside Council spent $624,000 in ongoing private action against former councillor Lance Bagster

Ratepayers in some of Adelaide’s most expensive suburbs have been slugged over $600k in legal fees as an eight-year legal battle rages on.

Burnside councillor Lance Bagster viewing street art on Goodwood Road, Goodwood.

Ratepayers in some of Adelaide’s most elite suburbs have been slugged more than $600,000, as an eight-year legal battle rages on between a scandal ridden council and one of its former councillors.

Figures obtained by The Advertiser under Freedom of Information show the Burnside Council has spent $624,042 in a private action against former councillor Lance Bagster.

Mr Bagster claims his legal stoush started after he raised concerns over the behaviour of disgraced former chief executive Paul Deb, ultimately leading to a lengthy dispute between the two parties.

Former Burnside chief executive Paul Deb was dismissed after allegations of misconduct, he lost an unfair dismissal case in the Supreme Court. Picture: Sarah Reed

A subsequent investigation into Mr Deb’s behaviour led to serious allegations of misconduct – lodged by then senior manager Martin Cooper, now the acting chief executive of Burnside Council – and ended in Mr Deb losing an unfair dismissal case in the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Kourakis found Burnside Council was justified in sacking Mr Deb over his conduct included keeping inappropriate photos of himself and a colleague on his work email and describing an elected member as a “dumb f …”

Meanwhile, State Ombudsman Wayne Lines found Mr Bagster had “bullied and harassed” several council officers over an eight-month period in 2017.

The report recommended his position on Burnside Council was “no longer tenable” and that he be disqualified from being a councillor for up to five years.

Since then, Mr Bagster claims he has been involved in an ongoing series of legal disputes with both current and former council staff and elected members, in what he describes as a “David and Goliath battle” to try to clear his name.

“I’ve spent upwards of $300,000 and continue to expend legal funds because I am still retaining lawyers and considering my options,” he said.

“Obviously I want to recoup my financial loss and restore my reputation and good standing in the community.”

In June 2019, The Advertiser reported Burnside Council had spent more than $1 million in legal fees during the 2017-18 financial year.

FOI information shows $330,162 of the $1 million total spend in 2017-18, related to legal costs against Mr Bagster.

This included funding the private action of seven people who sought restraining orders in the Adelaide Magistrates Court against Mr Bagster.

By law, corporations cannot take out intervention orders against an individual so each plaintiff took court action in their own name.

Yet, correspondence seen by The Advertiser confirmed former chief executive Paul Deb made a “discretionary” decision for the council to fund the litigants’ court action.

Subsequently, the council spent around $89k fighting Mr Bagster in 2018-19 and $18k the year after that.

In 2022-23 they spent another $34k, then $122k in 2023-24.

Legally, The Advertiser cannot identify the parties who initiated the seven non-domestic intervention orders however, the orders were each revoked starting in June 2022 with the final orders dropped in April this year.