A cabinet meeting to discuss the future of Twickenham riverside was interrupted by complaints councillors had not properly declared their interests in the scheme.

Environmental scientist and riverside campaigner Barry Edwards was asked to leave the meeting on Monday after he claimed cabinet members had broken rules laid out by the Standards Board of England.

In a letter sent after the meeting to the council’s chief executive, Gillian Norton, he said: “I asked for a full declaration of interests by cabinet members. My request was not taken seriously and I was not satisfied by the level of disclosure, or the predetermination of the members, and I was asked to leave the room by the chairman Coun Serge Lourie.”

Mr Edwards said Environment Trust literature listed Coun Lourie as an “interested party” and Coun Martin Elengorn, cabinet member for environment, was an executive member of the Thames Landscape Strategy and a member of Richmond Environment Network.

He argued their roles on the riverside’s evaluation panel meant they had already made up their minds over how they would vote.

Coun Lourie denied the accusation saying if a member of the public brought forward strong reasons not to go with the report’s recommendation the cabinet could have been persuaded not to give developers Countryside its blessing.

He said he believed Richmond was already well served by public open space and the opportunity to build something “special” did not come along too often and that when it did it should be taken.

He said: “We have a clear vision for Twickenham involving the River Centre, no one else does.

“If any of the six [alternate plans drawn up by opponents of the scheme] were taken forward and you changed planning law to allow them, then when whichever one succeeded, six years down the line people would oppose it.

“It is a disgrace that we can’t sort this out – it has been vacant for nearly 30 years. I respect people’s opposition but the council has a responsibility to make a decision.”

Coun Elengorn added: “We made a very good decision and I think it’s the best use for the site that has come up. It will be a huge benefit to Twickenham and the borough. I await the monitoring officer’s advice with interest.”

The matter has been referred to the council’s monitoring officer for placing before the standards assessment sub-committee.