Wingecarribee Shire Council has been accused of pandering to a small minority of ratepayers in relocating an exhibition depicting the plight of Palestinian women and children in refugee camps.

General manager David McGowan chose to move the provocative exhibition from the public foyer to the Gibraltar Room in view of the number of verbal complaints received from people visiting the customer service area.

The exhibition entitled Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon - 54 Years in Exile featuring 80 works was officially opened on November 24 by Olfat Mahmoud, executive director of the Women's Humanitarian Organisation.

Helen McCue, from the Highlands based Rural Australians for Refugees, has now written to Mayor Phil Yeo to express her distress at the action taken by council without consultation with the Women Refugee Education Network.

"I have been informed the basis on which this action was taken was that the exhibition caused an estimated six persons to complain to the customer service desk that the exhibition was biased and anti-Israeli," she said.

"In a direct response to these complaints, without consultation with WREN, the accompanying text of the exhibition was removed on November 29 while on December 2 the entire exhibition was removed, again without consultation with WREN.

"After discussion with Councillor Larry Whipper and myself it was agreed that the exhibition be rehung in council's Gibraltar committee room.

"We appreciate the action taken by council in rehanging the exhibition, however, I consider this action to be a serious over reaction to a minority view and a disturbing form of artistic censorship."

Ms McCue says councils unilateral action in removing this exhibition from the gallery space is clearly a disturbing over reaction to a very small minority of ratepayers.

"The fact that this view has dominated and resulted in a decision to close the exhibition in the gallery is quite extraordinary, not only in its censorship of important and historically correct artistic material," she said.

"Such action also displays considerable lack of principal and political courage by submitting to the views of an extremely small minority."

Mr McGowan said the decision to relocate the exhibition to the Gibraltar Room was taken in full agreement with the people behind the exhibition which council believed was a reasonable compromise under the circumstances.