Proposed code of conduct amendment dumped

A proposed amendment to regional councillors’ code of conduct, which allows members to raise conflicts of interest against each other, has been thrown out for fear of driving a wedge between members.

Kathy White backed fellow councillor Jane Hennebry’s objection to the amendment which would allow councillors to write to committee chairs about fellow members regarding potential conflicts of interest.

‘‘It does raise the possibility of us not having an open and honest discussion between each other,’’ White said. ‘‘It could create a wedge between councillors. If we are going to change our code of conduct we should have a look at others.’’

Hennebry couldn’t see the point in revisiting the code.

‘‘We really thrashed this out not that long ago [October 2012] and we felt it covered us well,’’ Hennebry said. ‘‘I think there is probably room for discussions around it . . . we could look at other councils and see what theirs are like.’’

Stuart Husband thought the amendment would stifle discussion around the council table.

‘‘I would hate to see 14 councillors walking around with no opinion on anything. I would not be on the TB Free committee had this been in.’’

Husband is a farmer whose farm would benefit from the eradication of bovine tuberculosis.

Clyde Graf asked what the motivation was for the amendment.

‘‘It’s the responsibility of individual councillors to declare [their own]conflicts of interest,’’ he said.

Chief executive Vaughan Payne said it was good practice for a new council to look at its code of conduct. The council was formed in October.

Lois Livingston’s bid for the document to remain on the table failed to gain any support.

‘‘It’s a bit like a wet bus ticket, there’s not much you can do with it,’’ she said of the current code.