COTSWOLD Liberal Democrat leader Joe Harris is calling on a Conservative councillor to withdraw from tomorrow's vote to decide on 2,350 homes in Cirencester.

Tomorrow’s special meeting at Cirencester Baptist Church, from 10am, will see Cotswold District Council (CDC) decide on Bathurst Development Ltd’s (BDL) outline planning application for 2,350 new homes in Chesterton.

CDC Lib Dem leader Cllr Harris has written an open letter to the leader of the council calling for Cllr Shaun Parsons (Conservative) to refrain from voting to avoid “an appearance of conflict of interest”.

The call by the Lib Dems comes after the discovery that Cllr Parsons is a member of an “exclusive Conservative dining club”, the Cirencester Bull Club.

Members of the club include Lord Bathurst, Edward Allsop (a trustee of BDL) and a number of Conservative CDC councillors.

Cllr Joe Harris said: “There has been a lot of concern about conflict of interest and transparency surrounding this planning application, especially as Lord Bathurst was previously the president of the local Conservatives.

“I’m pleased that there has been a rigorous effort by the Council to highlight potential conflict of interest amongst councillors and that the process has highlighted the existence of the ‘Cirencester Bull Club’ an exclusive Tory dining club.

“We know that two Conservative Councillors are members of this dining club and that one of them has withdrawn from taking part in the decision making meeting.

“Whilst it is up to the individual Councillor to decide whether or not to take part in the council meeting, I’m asking Cllr Annett to use his clout as leader of the Council and leader of the Conservatives to persuade Cllr Shaun Parsons not to take part in order to protect the reputation of the Council and to protect Councillor Shaun Parsons from accusations of bias.”

Cllr Shaun Parsons said he did not want to make a comment when he was contacted by the Standard and denied having spoken to the BBC on the same story.

But a recording on BBC Radio Gloucestershire’s Steve Kitchen programme, aired last Friday, suggests that the Conservative councillor had given a verbal statement confirming that he will be taking part in tomorrow’s vote and denying any bias.

He told the BBC: “I’ve been a member of the Bull Club for really quite a few years. I don’t believe that I have any bias whatsoever.

“And I believe that any suggestion of such is totally erroneous. It’s wrong.

“As far as I recall, I have never ever discussed any planning issue with anybody in the Bull Club. The suggestion that there’s a perceived... is put there because it’s been put there. But there’s absolutely no grounds on which I should withdraw.

“I have never discussed any planning issue with anybody in the club, let alone Lord Bathurst, let alone Edward Allsop. I haven’t discussed with any members.

“It’s simply that people have not approached me and there’s not been a topic of conversation with me or with anybody else.”

A spokesperson for CDC said: "With regard to the specific points raised by Councillor Harris, and notwithstanding the fact that our officers and legal counsel had seen all of the interest forms, further advice has been sought.

"In summary, it is not considered that attendance at Bull Club dinners gives rise to a disqualifying interest or any basis for allegations of apparent bias.

"And it is felt that simply attending a function organised by, or affiliated to, a political party is unlikely to be construed by a court as prejudicial.

"Furthermore, in speaking to the two members concerned, both have re-emphasised the fact that they have not discussed the BDL application with Lord Bathurst, Edward Allsop or anyone else involved with the applicant company, either at Bull Club events or elsewhere."

A decision on the Chesterton mega-development had been twice delayed since September last year.

The decision was deferred for three months at a special meeting on September 25 last year, on the grounds that further details were needed on issues of access. A second scheduled meeting on December 12 was then postponed due to snow and icy conditions.

Save Our Cirencester, a campaign against the Chesterton development, will be holding a peaceful protest outside Cirencester Baptist Church tomorrow from 9.15am.