Can a parish clerk make a public statement contrary to the wants of the people of the parish he is serving?

Question

We are currently in the very early stages of a planning consultation regarding the siting of a major dual carrageway through greenfield/greenbelt land and as a parish are against the proposition. There is a local action group with a significant number of memebers who have met the parish council and expressed oppossion to the proposal, however the clerk to the parish has gone on local radio and publically stated that the parish council are in favour of the road and by association that the villages affected are also in favour.

My question is can he do this as an employee/unelected member of the parish council and not an actual counciller and if not what action can be taken?

Answer 1

I can see that it would be annoying, but if the clerk was expressing a view decided on by the parish council, then it is hard to see that it would be wrong.  That is, provided the clerk made it clear that the view was that of the parish council, and did not claim to be representing public opinion.