The council or, as the case may be, the Department shall perform their duties under these Regulations in an objective manner and so as not to find themselves in a situation giving rise to a conflict of interest.

Where the council or, as the case may be, the Department is (or would be) an applicant and it will also be responsible for determining its own application, the council or, as the case may be, the Department shall make appropriate administrative arrangements to ensure that there is a functional separation, when performing any duty under these Regulations, between the persons making the application and the persons responsible for determining that application.