A local organisation has submitted a planning application for a major development that is controversial with some local people. There has been a vociferous campaign against it on social media, and it was a strong campaigning focus among candidates for the local elections. The party that was elected with overall control of the council actually put it in their manifesto that they would oppose the development. Given that all of that party's candidates presumably signed up to the manifesto, does that mean that they now have a conflict of interest en masse and should stand down from the planning committee that considers the plans? The Leader of the Council has said that the planning committee is not political, and the case will be considered on planning law only, but my understanding is that the rules preclude anyone who has expressed a view about the development publicly must stand down, so the question is whether the manifesto qualifies as expressing a view.
There are individual councillors on the planning committee who may have a more specific conflict of interest. Some of them have spoken out very publicly and have already said they will be standing down from the committee. However another one, who hasn't expressed a view publicly, lives very close to the development site. His wife has been one of the most vociferous campaigners against it, though she has used a pseudonym throughout. Is this enough to mean he should stand down?
Another councillor has not made any public statement, but has expressed a negative view verbally to an individual. If that individual spoke out about that, would it just be their word against the councillor's and therefore not taken seriously, or would their word be enough to oblige the councillor to stand down?