Meeting documents

Document D

From:

Sent: 19 September 2006 06:57

To: Debbie Incledon

Subject: Investigation

Hi Debbie

Further to our conversation last week, there's not much more I can add about the involvement of Cllrs P and J Gay in relation to the planning application "Land at 57 Manor Park, Writhlington" other than to reiterate:

Development Control meeting 5 April 2006. I attended and witnessed the attendance of Cllr J Gay (not minuted) and Cllr P Gay (minuted). None of them declared an interest. Cllr J Gay spoke strongly against the application (not minuted), as did members of the public including me (not minuted). Cllr P Gay also spoke, more broadly but giving a clear indication of her views not in favour of the application and she proposed a site meeting, which was accepted by committee. The press were there as well as local residents, officers and councillors, Cllr J Gay's attendance should be easy to verify.

Formal site visit confirmed by Andy Ross as taking place on 24 April. Officers confirm that Cllr P Gay did attend and participate, members of the public also witnessed her active involvement. What I don't know if she should be expected to declare an interest at a site meeting, given the close proximity of her home address to the site in question, I would have thought that it would have been more prudent not to take part in this meeting.

Development Control meeting 3 May 2006. I did not attend but local residents tell me that Cllr P Gay did and participated. The minutes show that she declared a "personal and non-prejudicial" interest in the application and "...she would speak and vote on the matter..". It is recorded that she moved rejecting the officer recommendation and refusing the application in question.

In my view, Cllr P Gay should have declared an interest and withdrawn from all three meetings, given the close proximity of her home address.

Cllr J Gay's case is slightly different. I assume he will inherit part of his parent's estate (which includes the family home mentioned above) so it could be argued that he had an interest as well and should have declared this and not have participated on 5 April. As a senior councillor he should also be aware of the Code of Conduct and his mother's requirement to declare an interest so he should have informed the appropriate authorities that she was acting in breach of the Code.

Hope all this information helps.

I look forward to reading the outcome of your investigation. I would like to see anything (and

everything) written about me from Cllrs P and J Gay plus anything from Vernon Hitchman.

Regards

Pete

Peter Sas