Volunteering and a conflict of interest

[h0rsewithn0name]

I have a difficult situation coming up. I'm the Secretary of a local community group - we raise money for improving our town, campaign for better local authority services etc. It's a very busy group and we have about 40 members who are all very committed.

Anyway, there is a new residential development being proposed for the area which will change our town considerably. I'm very sure this will come up for discussion at our next meeting. The problem is, DH owns a very small part of the land, and he will undoubtedly receive a good sum of money if it comes off. He isn't active in selling the land, as his portion is so small - that's being dealt with by the bigger land owners.

When this comes up for discussion, I know I must declare a conflict of interest, and I won't have any part in the campaign. I will simply take the minutes as normal. But do I have to say what the conflict of interest is? If I'm honest, I'd rather not make it public, but I'm conscious of doing the right thing. I can't resign at the moment, as we've only just had our AGM.

Declared a Conflict of Interest, and leave the room when it is discussed.

If you don’t declare it, then the sale / profit becomes known, it will look like you were being disingenuous

Definitely declare it. I think it's ok to not say what the conflict is. Although everyone will be wondering!

If your group has 40 active members, is it not likely that at least one of them will know about your DH owning the land and will tell the others?

Declare a conflict of interest: I would just say “I have a connection with a minor stakeholder” . If anyone presses you just say ‘I don’t want to talk about anyone else’s affairs. All that matters is that I remove myself from discussion.

Because actually you have no business telling anyone what your DH owns, that’s his business.

ETA a ‘stakeholder’ could be anyone. The developers and their shareholders, the consultants working for them, as well as the land owners.

Thank you so much, especially @RantzNotBantz that seems the perfect way forward. We have a well known surname locally, so yes, people will get the connection; I just don't want to open up a discussion and would rather shut it down before it starts.