Council facing court date after Mull campaigners raise £50k
In order to meet the expected initial costs of the legal action, the group opened a crowdfunder with the goal of raising £50,000 by 8 July 2025.
However, that target has now been exceeded after just seven days, with £50,025 pledged at the time of writing.
Argyll and Bute Council has faced significant criticism over its decision to locate the proposed new school in Tobermory, the main town on the island. The current school, also in Tobermory, incorporates a nursery, primary and secondary school, but surveys have shown that a majority supported moving the high school component to a central location in order to end the practice of some children being sent to board in Oban from the age of eleven.
Throughout the process, and despite seeking the support of families living in areas not served by the current high school, the council has insisted that only a single-site approach is viable, meaning that boarding in Oban would still be necessary for children from the south of the island. Officials ultimately recommended the new school be built on a site on the southern edge Tobermory, and this advice was accepted by councillors at a special sitting of the council in Lochgilphead.
The move to build a new school was originally referred to as the 'Mull Campus Project', but recent communication from council officials has stated that 'the Tobermory Campus project is focussed on creating an improved and enhanced learning environment for the pupils within the current Tobermory High School catchment area".
The situation has been described as an example of a 'wider democratic deficit' in Scotland, and islanders have told The Herald that the council has left them feeling 'silenced and belittled".
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The planned legal action argues that the council's decision to limit itself to consideration of a single site, and the consequent narrowing of any consultation work, was 'inherently unfair'.
It also alleges that the council acted 'irrationally' in failing to properly consider the offer of free land at a central location, and that councillors were misinformed about the offer itself.
Finally, the group is challenging the failure to hold a formal vote on the proposals which they say contravenes the council's constitution.
The campaigners say that they were 'warned not to challenge' the council's decision to locate the new school in Tobermory, and that delays to the programme could 'jeopardise Scottish Government funding,' which they described as being told to accept the plans as they are or risk getting 'nothing at all'.
Although the new school building is being delivered by Argyll and Bute Council, the authority plans to use a Scottish Government funding scheme known as the Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP). Education secretary Jenny Gilruth has already confirmed that delays to the project will not jeopardise financial support.
However, the government has faced criticism over it's approach to the ongoing dispute, including after it was discovered that First Minister John Swinney deleted a campaigners' email without ever opening it.
Commenting from the Isle of Mull, local parent and former Community Council vice-chair Tracy Mayo told The Herald:
'Legal action can be daunting. It is always a last resort, something people are usually forced to do, and the expense itself can be prohibitive for so many.
'No so, it seems, for a small and unique island community and their friends who, against the odds, have raised over £50,000 in just one week. It is incredible.
'This is about our children and their future and a community's vision of it. We have more work to do and a stretch target to reach.
'We want to work with our council and government to rewrite a historic wrong and to ensure all Mull children and their families are treated the same.
'I urge them both to work with us.'
The Scottish Government and Argyll and Bute Council have been approached for comment.
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