Line was crossed in row over toilets
THE north-west Sutherland community councillor who is leading the campaign against the closure of public toilets has spoken of her shock and upset at being the subject of a verbal attack by the leader of Highland Council.
Kinlochbervie resident Margaret Meek this week called on Councillor Margaret Davidson to "retract" her comments.
Cllr Davidson publicly accused Mrs Meek of being "ill-informed" over the toilets issue and claimed she had been instrumental in winding people up and creating an atmosphere that was not good for the Highlands.
The Independent representative also questioned why Mrs Meek had never approached her directly.
And she dismissed a petition organised by Kinlochbervie Community Council, saying 98 per cent of the signatories were from overseas or suffering from conditions such as Crohn’s disease.
The astonishing attack came at a Highland Council meeting in Inverness last Thursday at which the toilet situation was brought up for discussion.
Mrs Meek and other campaigners against the closure of nine public conveniences in the north-west, were present to lobby councillors on the issue and present a petition signed by 14,641 people.
Highland Council has consistently maintained it is incorrect to talk about toilet closures and that a "review" is under way.
It emerged earlier this week that Cllr Davidson has since been in touch with Mrs Meek and told her she had not meant to make her comments "personal". But she fell short of an apology.
Mrs Meek told the Northern Times that following the meeting, she had received an "incredible amount of support in the form of telephone calls, personal visits, emails, facebook messages and hugs".
She said: "I was shocked by the council debate on Thursday. I felt that I was being portrayed as an individual, who was passionate and committed but ill-informed.
"Mrs Davidson’s remarks were very personal. She said that I had given people a really negative picture about the closure of toilets and said that in future ‘what you do when you see something like this coming is inform yourself, work with your communities to find solutions instead of organising protests because that’s what this has been.’"
Mrs Meek said she was particularly wounded as Kinlochbervie Community Council had gone to great lengths to be as well-informed as possible, including contacting their three ward councillors and trawling through the authority’s website for reports.
She said: "In terms of contacting Mrs Davidson, our community council chairman Graham Wild did speak to her on the telephone."
The community council also wrote to chief executive officer Steve Barron setting out in detail its concerns – his response was that toilets would close if alternative facilities could not be found.
Mrs Meek is also distressed that Cllr Davidson feels she wound people up.
She said: "We held a public meeting in June that was attended by 125 people as well as all three ward councillors and three council officials.
"The community councils supported a petition because people do not feel that their concerns are being listened to.
"Had the council engaged genuinely with the community in the first place and in the months following, none of this would have been necessary. It is my sincere home that in the future, there will be much better dialogue between the council and its people."
She added: "She [Cllr Davidson] should retract her statements now that they have been in the press. There is some sort of ethical standards board and it does appear that a line has been crossed."
The review of public conveniences is expected to be completed by October 31. A motion at last Thursday’s meeting by north west Sutherland Kirsteen Currie and an SNP colleague to take toilet rationalisation out of the budget, was voted down.
The Northern Times asked Cllr Davidson for a comment, but she had not replied by the time we went to press.