I attended the Development Control Committee as a substitute member on the 6th October. On the agenda was the planning application for 53 houses in Clare.

I had called in the application so my name was mentioned in the public documents. To give some degree of separation I asked a fellow district councillor to speak rather than me, as I was now part of the committee.

The Chairman of Clare Town Council and a representative of the Clare Society also turned up to speak.

I welcomed them as you would expect. And that appears to be my crime.

It seems that greeting folk that I know, at committee meetings, might give the impression to members of the public that something inappropriate might be going on.

I disagree.

Public life demands openness and transparency. Hiding the fact that I know folk speaking on a planning application and then making a decision is not open or transparent.