[Gayle]

The thing is though, surely, that Cllr Jones lives in the ward that he represents. That's one of the reasons that people become councillors - to represent their neighbours and the area that they live in. It's his job to bring issues in the area that he lives in to the fore. If he wasn't flagging up issues on his street or in his area then he wouldn't be doing his job.

Whilst declaring an interest is one thing, I do think it's turning into a situation where it's a bit unfortunate for neighbours if a Councillor moves into your street - it means that no one wants to do anything for it any more. The Councillor who's moved in won't be able to do anything because they have to declare an interest and back off - and the opposition won't do anything because it will benefit an opposition Councillor.