A complaint against a community councillor in a dispute over plans for holiday pods on Loch Long was rejected this week.
Plans for the two pods beside the B833 at Peaton on the Rosneath Peninsula were submitted by Stephen Lambie last June.
Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council submitted an objection but Mr Lambie then complained about the conduct of one member, James McLean, saying he had encouraged the objectors.
Mr Lambie’s complaint was heard at the community council meeting on Tuesday night, leading to a secret ballot of members which cleared Mr McLean of the allegations.
He said that Mr McLean’s conduct had fallen well short of that expected of a community councillor.
“Far from representing the community, Mr McLean’s actions have shown to be self-serving in pursuit of some personal agenda,” he said.
“The planning process has its rules and procedures, which I am happy to adhere to.
“It is not for an individual who is a community councillor to try and manipulate the process through false representations.”
He said there had only nine people had objected to the plan out of a population of 1,200 and these referred to ‘a mythical site full of biodiversity and ancient woodland’, whereas Argyll and Bute Council’s conservation officer had said it was ‘mostly bracken with some seedling trees’.
“It wasn’t until Mr McLean’s actions of actively encouraging people to object were made aware to me that things started to make sense,” he added.
“People are entitled to their opinion, but when these are misguided and factually incorrect it corrupts the whole process.
“One individual is the driving force behind this and this is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.
“This application if successful can only help the area. It takes nothing away from what is already there to be enjoyed.”
Mr McLean said the issue was linked to an application near to this site, opposite Ruanda, which had been refused by Argyll and Bute is now the subject of an appeal – both sites are owned by Robert MacIntyre.
Nick Davies, who was chairing that part of the meeting, said as a community councillor Mr McLean was entitled to object in his own right.
And community council secretary Sheelagh O’Reilly said: “As a private citizen you can make any objection you wish to.
“What is important is to differentiate your view as a private citizen from your role as a member of the community council and that is why the declaration of interest procedure is important – so you are entitled, as any of us are, to make objections to Argyll and Bute Council, but we as community councillors are here to represent the community in its entirety.”
Mr McLean said the holiday pod plan would require a change of use from countryside to development land.
“In conversation with various members of the community it was clear that this was a concern to them,” he said.
“In an Our Community consultation survey 76% of people rated protection of the environment as the most important issue.
“I brought the application to the notice of a dozen people who I knew had concerns following the Ruanda application in an email, not in a WhatsApp message as cited, stating I would raise it at the next community council meeting.
“The secretary asked for information about the number and location of people who were voicing concern and asking the community council to respond.
“At that time the list was 60-strong.”
He said discussions at the December meeting had been led by the secretary rather than him. while Argyll and Bute’s provost Maurice Corry had said they ‘needed to take responsibility and make a decision’.
A vote had been taken which unanimously found in favour of submitting an objection, save for abstentions from the secretary and convener John Auld.
Community councillors this week were asked to vote in secret on three questions:
- If Mr McLean had lobbied members of the community to object to the proposal using a call to arms.
- Whether Mr McLean unduly influenced the community council in the December 2023 meeting to oppose the planning application.
- And if the community council failed to follow its declaration of interests procedure.
After the secret ballot papers were counted in the kitchen of Cove Burgh Hall the result was announced, the complaints being dismissed by 4-3, 6-1 and 7-0 respectively.
Community councillors were then asked if they wished to withdraw their objection but voted 5-2 against this.
Mr McLean was not allowed to vote on any of the four questions.
Details of the planning application are on the Argyll and Bute website – the reference number is 23/01120/PP .
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