A FORMER Labour West Wiltshire District Councillor has recently criticised myself and fellow District Councillor Angie Barker for declaring an interest and playing no part in a local planning application.

The site in question went before the Northern Area Committee and was refused by the committee. However neither myself nor Cllr Barker played any part in the decision making process. The applicant went on to appeal against the decision, won and was awarded costs.

I would like to put it on record why we declared an interest in the application. As locally elected councillors we rightly have to follow a strict code of conduct, this involves declaring an interest even when there is no financial gain.

As for the application in question both Cllr Barker and myself felt it was right to play no part in the application. Cllr Barker knew both the applicant and his wife well, and I had spent the day with the applicant in London the day before.

The public expects us as members of a planning committee to be whiter than white, and rightly so. We have a code of conduct to follow and I would hope this former Labour councillor and my former opponent at the polls would follow that code if he were ever to find himself re-elected to public office.

CLLR TERRY CHIVERS,

Chairman of WWDC Northern Area Committee.