Cr Larry Whipper has submitted the Question with Notice for Thursday's meeting asking "if any councillors have received electoral funding from anybody associated with the Big W development" and "if so, would it be in the public interest for those councillors to declare this."

Cr Whipper said with the credibility of councils such as Liverpool, Leichhardt and Tweed under scrutiny recently, there was an increasing concern within the wider community that developers were beginning to have an unmandated influence over governments in general, and in particular local government.

"My concern is that local government's perception within the community mind is under more threat than ever before," he said.

"Incidents like Orange Grove are real examples of the level of interest that the Minister for Local Government and ICAC are taking in local government matters.

"In comparison to other areas where real estate is at a premium, our scenario may be infinitesimal, however, it is all about perception and as we know, perception can sometimes be more damaging that the reality itself.