FARNHAM town councillor Anne Mansell has been cleared by the Standards Board of England for failure to comply with the Town Council's Code of Conduct. It was alleged that Mrs Mansell failed to declare an interest in a planning application on Old Compton Lane, Farnham on August 18, 2005. Mrs Mansell, who is also a Waverley borough councillor, has lived in the road for more than 30 years, and resides approximately 0.3 miles from the site of the proposed planning application. However, the application - which was subsequently rejected - would have seen nine dwellings built on land to the rear of 5-11 Old Compton Lane, with an entrance point to Lynch Road. According to complainant John Bower, during Mrs Mansell's capacity as a member of the plans panel of Farnham Town Council, she failed to declare an interest, or withdraw from discussions of the application. The subsequent investigation, said to be "extensive", was carried out, with all relevant parties interviewed and a report prepared for the perusal of the Standards Committee. During this spell, Mrs Mansell revealed that she did not declare an interest as she saw the application as being in Lynch Road, given access to the site. She also affirmed that with the benefit of hindsight, she probably should have declared an interest, but at the time she certainly felt that it was not an issue. Mr Bower, who submitted the planning application along with three other neighbours and a developer, expressed his curiosity as to why Mrs Mansell had not declared an interest. It was his understanding that the only course of action open to him to answer his questions was to approach the Standards Board. The investigating officer's report concluded that Mrs Mansell had neither personal nor prejudicial interest in the matter and therefore did not breach the Code of Conduct. "Investigating officer Sue Petzold carried out a full investigation into the allegation. The Standards Board agreed that there was no evidence to support the allegation in breach of the code," said a WBC spokesman.
