Billy Munro, who runs Alness-based William Munro (Construction) Highland Ltd, attempted to block Councillor Maxine Smith from taking part in any discussions about his application for an extension to his waste plant in Evanton when the local planning committee met on Tuesday.

Mr Munro claimed that Cllr Smith might be biased towards him because a herd of his cattle had damaged the garden of her home at Calrichie Cottages near Invergordon, on the Kindeace Farm estate which Mr Munro owns.

He also alleged that Cllr Smith could be biased towards him because her ex-husband had left Mr Munro's employment under aggrieved circumstances 15 years ago.

Mr Munro wrote to Alistair Dodds, the chief executive of Highland Council, saying that Cllr Smith should not be permitted to sit on the committee which determined his application.

But this week Cllr Smith, who was cleared of any bias, said it was underhand tactics by Mr Munro, who has recently been stripped of his haulier's licence because of a catalogue of safety breaches.

Cllr Smith said: "The day before the planning meeting, Mr Munro also sent me an email saying we had unfinished business and that I might be biased towards him. I saw that as an attempt to sway me and to make me feel that I should not be voting.

"I feel he was trying to intimidate me over the determination of his application but I won't be frightened by these kind of tactics from anyone.

"I previously rented a house from Mr Munro, Heathfield House on the Kindeace Farm estate, for eight years. Recently I bought a house at Calrichie Cottages on the same estate and it was there that around 20 of Mr Munro's cows got into my garden and caused a lot of damage.

"They made enormous holes in my lawn, ate special little trees which cost about £60 each as well as shrubs and flowers, and left huge cow pats which I had to clean up.

"The trampling of the cows' feet also undermined my septic tank which had to be replaced at a cost of £3,500.

"We had conversations about the damage and, while I didn't achieve the outcome I had hoped for, we came to an amicable agreement and he erected a fence up around my house."

Cllr Smith added: "Mr Munro also said in his complaint that because my ex-husband had left his employment in aggrieved circumstances, I might have bias against him. This is a ridiculous contention. My ex-husband left him 15 years ago and I have been divorced from him for 12 years.

"I want people to know what this was all about and that I won't be intimidated by anyone. I was elected, like other people in public service sector, to show no fear or favour to anyone and that's what I will do."

Cllr John Finnie, the leader of the council's SNP group, of which Cllr Smith is a member, and depute chief executive Michelle Morris, investigated Mr Munro's claims and decided there was no requirement for Cllr Smith to declare an interest in the application.

The application to extend his waste transfer station on the Evanton Industrial Estate to include the transfer of household waste and sealed asbestos waste was approved unanimously by the council's Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross planning committee this week, which included Cllr Smith.

However, it was only given a three-year approval and will be subject to strict monitoring of the conditions by the council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, because of previous concerns about odour and flies at the site.

Mr Munro declined to comment to the North Star this week.

editor@north-star-news.co.uk

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