The Liberal Democrat group of Councillors on Kingston Council have taken the decision to ask for the extraordinary meeting to be cancelled.

The meeting was called by 5 Liberal Democrat Councillors to discuss the perceived conflict of interest of the Leader of the Council, who is also Chief Operating Officer for a planning lobbying company, and other Councillors.

It is with regret that we have asked for the meeting to be cancelled. We took the difficult decision as we feel that it would be disrespectful following so soon after the sudden death of Chrissie Hitchcock.  I know Chrissie felt strongly on this issue, but we have not even had her funeral and we felt now is not the time.

These concerns have not gone away, in fact they grow almost by the day, so we will be returning to this later in the year.

said Councillor Liz Green, Leader of the Lib Dem group

This is the full motion that was to be debated that evening:

“This Council notes: 

i       Reputation and confidence in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is crucial and perception of conflicts of interest undermines it.

ii      In a period of rapid growth in large scale developments within Kingston Borough, it is vital that all Councillors act with integrity and are perceived to act with integrity

iii    The Leader of the Council and the Lead Member for Housing currently work as lobbyists on behalf of developers seeking planning permission.

iv     Many former Councillors now work similarly on developments.

 “This Council believes:

 i       The perception of a conflict of interest exists where a sitting Councillor works as a lobbyist and this is even more apparent when that Member takes a Lead role.

 “This Council resolves:

 i       That no sitting Councillor should be able to take a Lead role (defined as one with a special responsibility allowance) whilst working or owning a company that primary function is public affairs for the development industry.”