A Ballochmyle councillor has denied accusations of conflict of interest following a tight vote over the future of a proposed Mauchline nursery.

Plans for a new nature nursery were refused after a close vote at a meeting of East Ayrshire Council's planning committee last month.

During the meeting, SNP councillor William Lennox, one of four councillors for the Ballochmyle ward, moved a motion that the application should be refused planning permission.

His motion was seconded by Cllr Drew Filson (Independent, Doon Valley).

An amendment was laid down by Cllr Maureen McKay (Labour, Kilmarnock North), seconded by her party colleague Elaine Stewart (Doon Valley), recommending that the plans be approved.

But Cllr Lennox's motion carried the day by a margin of five votes to four.

Cllr Lennox's motion cited concern at the increased traffic likely to occur on three nearby access streets - Clarinda Crescent, East Park Avenue and Nether Walk.

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The plans for the new facility said that in the event of the project gaining planning permission, it would have provided a new home for the Burns Bairns early years group - which currently uses the Centre Stane building in the town.

The decision was taken by the council's planning committee on July 28, following an earlier meeting on June 23 at which the committee agreed to hold a site visit before voting on the fate of the plans.

Following the second meeting, the Chronicle was contacted by a resident who pointed out that Cllr Lennox is a trustee of the Mauchline Community Association, which runs Centre Stane, and that granting the application could have led to a loss of income for Centre Stane.

The resident said: "It is felt widely across the village that Councillor Lennox has a conflict of interest, which we believe has not been declared, and voted against the plans in case Burns Bairns were to take over the new nursery, if it were approved. 

"This would potentially put pressure on Centre Stane for rental income. 

"Councillor Lennox is not thinking of the greater need of the village, but simply his own loyalties to Centre Stane. 

"This is not his role as a councillor.

"There is a real question over his integrity and confusion over why, in his position as a trustee for another organisation, would he be allowed to vote and more importantly have the deciding vote."

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But when contacted by the Chronicle, Councillor Lennox insisted his concerns were purely based on the access issues mentioned in his motion.

He added that he is not opposed to a new nursery being built in Mauchline.

Cllr Lennox said: "I’m on record at both the meetings, held on June 23 and July 28, to be supportive of the concept.

"My main concern was the access point, which in this particular application is in a totally inappropriate place in my opinion.

"Having considered all relevant planning matters, I was concerned that the proposed development would likely result in increased traffic on the adjacent access streets of Clarinda Crescent, East Park Avenue and Nether Walk, Mauchline, and that this would not be fully compatible with surrounding established uses, and would have unacceptable impacts on the environmental quality of the area, and would therefore not comply with Overarching Policy 1 (ii) of the East Ayrshire Local Development Plan 2017. 

"I therefore moved that the application should be refused on that basis."

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Cllr Lennox continued: "The planning merits of this particular planning application were finely balanced, and this is recognised by the fact that the planning committee ultimately refused the application by five votes to four.

"From my perspective, I’ve been open and upfront about the position I hold within Mauchline Community Association SCIO, which is published on the Members Declarations of Interest.

"I’m extremely confident that there is no conflict of Interest in that regard, and had there been so, I’d have excused myself from any involvement in this application."