Three complaints have been made to Argyll and Bute Council this week about the attitude of Cllr Bruce Marshall, chair of the authority's Bute and Cowal area committee, with two residents of the nearby St Ninian's Bay area stating they were "incensed" at his conduct during the hearing.

Christine McArthur and Lorna Mitchell were among several objectors angered by Cllr Marshall's description of the area and his labelling of St Ninian's Chapel as "a pile of rubble".

Both complained that Cllr Marshall showed bias in favour of the fish farm applicants, Offshore Farm Developments (OFD) Ltd., and was disparaging in his treatment of the objectors at the hearing in the Pavilion last Tuesday.

Despite Cllr Marshall's expression of support for the project, the OFD application was rejected after the other five councillors at the meeting voted for refusal.

Writing to the council's chief executive James McLellan, Mrs Mitchell complained: "We were incensed when (Cllr Marshall] delivered his summing up as chair with what can only be described as an abusive rant, derogating the evidence presented by the objectors, both private and professional and dismissing the case presented by his own planning officer.

"He read a prepared script (which he did not have the opportunity to write at the meeting), showed clear bias in his questioning for the applicant, and grossly abused his position as chairperson.

"I do not believe that this person is fit to hold this office and that action should be taken to remove him."

And Mrs McArthur, who founded the Stop The Inchmarnock Fish Farm (S.T.I.F.F.) campaign group to oppose the OFD application, complained: "Mr Marshall did not appear to be able to listen objectively and displayed a biased attitude in favour of the application, rubbishing the views of objectors, both members of the public and statutory consultees.

"In the final vote on the application, (he] opened with his own comments which he read out from a prepared statement and then cast his vote in favour of the application before anyone else had expressed their views.

"This indicates that his intentions were fixed prior to this hearing and he may have been attempting to influence the other councillors."

Bute Community Council has also agreed to send a letter complaining about Cllr Marshall's conduct at last Tuesday's hearing, held at the Pavilion in Rothesay.

But Cllr Marshall himself gave a typically robust defence of his position when we put the objectors' complaints to him this week.

"The fact that I disagreed with most of the people at the hearing is my own business and democracy in action," he told us.

"I listened attentively to everything that was said. I did not rubbish the views of the objectors - I just gave my opinion on the application before us when councillors debated the merits of the application.

"Throughout the hearing, until my own summation, I displayed no bias.

"I had no prepared statement, only a factual account of my findings when visiting the site. I believe I was the only councillor to take the time to go to the actual site at St Ninian's Point.

"I came to the hearing with an open mind. I totally reject the accusation that I spoke abusively and rudely to participants at the hearing."

Cllr Marshall has twice been the subject of investigations by the Standards Commission for Scotland into alleged breaches of the councillors' code of conduct, in 2006 and 2007, in relation to planning matters in Sandbank and Hunter's Quay, though in each case he was found not to have breached the code.