THE openness of decisions taken by the district council's planning committee will come under the spotlight on Monday - just five months after councillors were rapped for allowing "non-planning reasons" to influence decisions.
West Somerset District Council chief executive Tim Howes will ask members of the overview and scrutiny committee to approve a new set of procedures to ensure the council can not be accused of planning impropriety in the future.
He wants all planning committee members to undergo compulsory training to ensure they make open and honest decisions.
It comes after the Audit Commission rated the council's planning service as poor with "uncertain prospects" for improvement.
The commission was particularly concerned that many people believed the planning committee failed to take some decisions in a "fair and open manner" and councillors sometimes had "inappropriate responses" to lobbying and offers of hospitality.
Now, Mr Howes wants all planning committee members to declare at the beginning of each meeting whether or not they have been lobbied and by whom. He also wants unofficial site visits declared.
He said: "It is important to recognise that lobbying is a normal and perfectly proper part of the political process.
"However, such lobbying can lead, unless care and common sense is exercised by all the parties involved, to the impartiality and integrity of a councillor being called into question."
He also wants to see decisions that are contrary to a planning officer's recommendation - either for approval or refusal - to be deferred until the following meeting.
He believes a deferment would allow time for the planning officer and the council's legal advisers to fully explain the implications of a contrary decision.
He added: "Councillors . . . should not favour any person, company, group, or locality, nor put themselves in a position where they appear to do so.
"The process should leave no grounds for suggesting that a decision has been partial, biased or not well-founded in any way.
"Councillors who do not feel they can act in this way should consider whether they are best suited to serve on a planning committee."