Latest news with #TobermoryHighSchool
The Herald Scotland
14-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Mull school campaigners a step closer to court date
A petition for a Judicial Review was lodged with the Court of Session in Edinburgh in June, and was followed by a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised more than £50,000 in just one week. The campaigners have now confirmed that their application has been accepted by the court, which they say 'essentially means that the judge agrees there is a case to answer, and that it has real prospects of success". Argyll and Bute Council now has 14 days to respond to the petition. If it decides to contest the action, a formal hearing is expected in October. A spokesperson for the Mull Campus Working Group Ltd (MCWG), which is pursuing the legal case, said that "democracy is severely lacking" in Argyll and Bute Council but that their community is "more united than ever". The group had previously said that the council's decision-making around the new school had been 'shoddy and biased', which they say left them with 'no option' but to take the matter to court. They argue that the council has behaved irrationally, unfairly, and outwith the bounds of its own regulations, and that the decision to base the new school in Tobermory should therefore be reversed. 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'. Read more: Speaking recently to the Press and Journal, local councillor and administration member Andrew Kain, who had previously been highly critical of those pushing for a central high school, has suggested that islanders were misled by the council. He said that despite residents being told that the location of the new school was a matter for consultation, and the council running a 'call for sites' and a formal review of several options, the project was only ever intended to be 'a replacement for Tobermory High School'. 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". 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, and the government has also found and allocated additional funding to ensure that a new Gaelic primary school in Glasgow, which is also LEIP-funded, can be completed. The council is currently facing another active judicial review over its handling of plans for a supermarket on Helensburgh waterfront. During a hearing at the beginning of July, lawyers representing Argyll and Bute Council argued that local people had no right to challenge the decision, regardless of how it was made. Speaking exclusively to The Herald, a spokesperson for the Mull Campus Working Group Ltd said: 'We are all delighted that our petition has been granted the hearing it deserves. It has taken a huge effort from a team of volunteers to get us to this point and an incredible response from the community to support that work in the form of donations to fund this case. On the other hand we are disappointed that all of this hard work from the Mull community could have been avoided if Argyll and Bute council had chosen to work with us in the open and transparent way that was promised from the new administration. It is also shocking to us all that the council says they have no money to fund community solutions, yet find a bottomless pit to fund their legal defence in this, now their second judicial review. 'The themes of a lack of consultation and meaningful impact assessments conducted by those most closely affected, seem to be endemic across multiple projects and increasingly communities are not feeling represented or heard. The conclusion is that democracy is severely lacking at Kilmory in the eyes of the electorate. 'We hold out hope that a period of introspection by the administration at Kilmory and a commitment to work with us, will mean this legal action does not have to run its course. No one is enjoying having to work this way with our elected and non-elected officials and the stress caused and sacrifices made from countless hours of unpaid work has taken its toll on us all. The core team of volunteers are from all over the island from the north to the south, many will not be directly affected by the decisions being taken, but all of us feel that getting it right for every child and indeed our entire island is too important and this is a decision which will have ramifications for generations to come. 'The council now have two weeks to make their responses in defence of the grounds laid out. It's also worth noting that we have not delayed the project in any way by these actions, the campus team are progressing with spending taxpayers' money on their advanced business case no matter what objections are raised by us or councillor colleagues at Kilmory. The team are also planning statutory consultation to begin after the school holidays, which rather begs the question, why did they not have statutory consultation when applying for LEIP funding or during the process of deciding where this school should be built? 'Rather than the division that A&B expected the community seems more united than ever in their grit and support to do things better for the next generations of children on Mull. We are continually humbled by the response to our actions as a working group and the support that backs us at every stage.' The Herald approached Argyll and Bute Council and asked if it intended to contest the legal action from the Mull Campus Working Group. The council was also asked to respond to Councillor Kain's comments that those on the island were misled. A spokesperson responded to state that the council will not be commenting while legal proceedings are ongoing.
The Herald Scotland
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Islanders launch legal challenge over Mull school location
A spokesperson for the group said that the council's approach has been 'shoddy and biased' and that they have been left with 'no option' but to pursue legal action. 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, the council has insisted that only a single-site approach is viable, and officials ultimately recommended the new school be built on a site on the southern edge Tobermory. This advice was accepted by councillors at a special sitting of the council in Lochgilphead. 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.' 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 new legal action, being pursed by the Mull Campus Working Group, 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'. They also believe that the council acted 'irrationally' in failing to properly consider the offer of free land at a central location, and allege councillors were misinformed about the offer itself. Finally, the group are 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'. Building projects funded through the government's Learning Estate Improvement Programme (LEIP) scheme, which is being used for the new school on Mull, operate under set – and theoretically strict – deadlines, but education secretary Jenny Gilruth has confirmed in a letter to local MSP Jenni Minto that 'funding will not be withdrawn if the project faces delays, provided there is a clear and robust justification for Ministers to grant an extension to the completion date.' The government recently announced an additional £2million for another LEIP project – a new Gaelic primary school in Glasgow – to ensure that it is completed, with the project running many months behind schedule. A spokesperson for the Mull Campus Working Group said the council's processes were 'shoddy and biased from the outset'. The continued: 'Before the LEIP (Learning Estate Investment Programme) application was even submitted, our community council asked to be consulted, but they were refused any input. 'The people of Mull - and in particular families and children from the Ross of Mull who currently cannot access the island's only high school – were cruelly deceived. What was sold to them as 'a school for the whole island' was never intended to be any such thing. 'We naively trusted our councillors and officials to look at this fairly, and deliver a high school that was accessible to all. But they have manipulated the process to make sure it would never be delivered. In effect they said 'sure, you can have your central high school, but only if we remove primary and ELC provision from Mull's largest town and move it 21 miles away' 'That's not a choice, that's moral blackmail.' The campaigners say that attempts to find a mediated solution to the impasse were 'dashed' when the council refused to attend a roundtable event being organised by local Jenni Minto. They told The Herald that they had 'hoped for the best but prepared for the worst,' and that the council's decision to 'shut the door on a negotiated, constructive way forward' has left them 'no option but to take this to the Court of Session in Edinburgh.' Argyll and Bute Council and the Scottish Government have been approached for comment.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The island split over where to build a new high school
Residents on a Scottish island are facing an almost impossible dilemma as their council debates the location for a new multi-million-pound secondary school. What should be a milestone of progress for the Isle of Mull's infrastructure has created tensions between the community and the local authority. Parents in the north of the island want the new school to be built on the site of the current High School in Tobermory, in order to save their primary school. But those in the south want a school closer to them so their children will no longer have to be sent to Oban - at the age of 11 - on the mainland, where they have to board in hostels during the week. Argyll and Bute Council has shortlisted four options for the location of the new school, but has recommended the new school be built in Tobermory. The local authority is expected to pause a vote on the location of the high school, which was scheduled for Thursday, until 7 March. The isle of Mull is the fourth largest Scottish island and has an area of 338 square miles. Currently, Mull's only high school is in Tobermory, the most populated town on the island, and encompasses a nursery and primary school. But it is in a state of disrepair. Many islanders are calling for the new school to be built in a more central location, such as Craignure, which is home to the main ferry port and the island's hospital. This would would mean children from the Ross of Mull, who currently live out with Tobermory High School's catchment area, could attend school on the island. At present, these children need to attend high school in Oban, on the Argyll mainland, and stay in a hostel during the week. The council's preferred option is to build a replacement school in Tobermory but the "like-for-like" element of the funding means the island's capital would then lose its early years and primary provisions. Many community members had hoped that a "split option" would be made available allowing a central high school to built as well a new primary school and nursery for the community of Tobermory, but the council says that is too expensive. Marion MacLean lives in Tobermory and her two daughters currently attend the high school. While the decision won't directly impact on her family, Marion feels this is the "one chance to get it right for every child that lives on the island". While she feels its important not be "remiss of the feelings" of families in the Ross of Mull, she has concerns about the impact on the village she has called home all her life. She told BBC Scotland News: "Tobermory can't lose it's primary school. "It would have a huge impact on the businesses on the high street, and I think we would lose that community feel of having the children around the town during the day." Four miles off the main road through the Ross of Mull is the village of Carsaig, which is home to Amy Simpson and her daughters Daisy, six, and Rosie, four. Amy said that if the council's preferred option of a new school in Tobermory is selected she would feel forced to leave her village, when her kids reach secondary school age, rather than be separated from them if they had to board in Oban. She added: "We love our life here, we have become an integral part of our community. "We don't want to leave and we don't want to take our kids out of this community, this is where they were born and where they are growing up." Fifty-miles south of Tobermory, a journey which takes around an hour and a half in a car due to the single track roads, is the village of Bunessan. Rob Claxton-Ingham, who lives on a croft with his husband, said the future was uncertain as he doesn't know where his foster child will attend secondary school. As things stand she faces travelling and boarding in Oban every week - like all children on the south of the island. He told BBC Scotland News: "As a foster-carer, our child has faced separation and loss already from her birth family and has had to transition to us as her substitute carers "The thought of her transitioning again at the age of 11 to a school, over the sea, where she has to get a ferry, where she won't get our day-to-day support, is hard." Rob said high school has always been "an issue" for the community, and people have "learned to be as ok as they can be with it". "But this situation is developing something new and it really hurts that Argyll and Bute council could develop something new and, actually while doing that plan, to continue excluding people at this end of the island," he added. Rebekah MacLean and her four kids, also live in the village of Bunessan. Her youngest children attend the local primary school, but for her secondary aged children things are a little bit more complicated. She said: "For me, what I am seeking is equality across the island for all children whether that's primary age, early education or secondary students. "One key aspect of that is the secondary school being centrally based, so all the children can attend and no child has to be put in the position of choosing between education and family." Rebekah has managed to make arrangements with her son, Jude, 15, to stay with a family friend in Tobermory during the week so he is slightly closer to home, while her daughter, Acacia, 14, is home-schooled. Jude is also in favour of a centrally-located school so that when it comes to his sibling's time to go to high school, they can stay at home and have a less uninterrupted education than him. He said: "I do worry that because I have to travel so far, I have less time in school. "I want to be an engineer, that requires straight A's. "I worry I won't be able to get those because I have to travel so much and I'm maybe behind in class." It is clear that the debate on where the new school should be built is an issue that in consuming islanders. Everywhere you go, everyone has an opinion on it. Argyll and Bute council said: "Building a new 2-18 campus on Mull is Argyll and Bute Council's single biggest investment estimated at £43m. "Following extensive community engagement and detailed assessments, Councillors will consider a report recommending a preferred site on 27 February with a motion already tabled to hold a special meeting to consider the issue on 7 March." Council to push ahead with £100m Mull school plan Consultation on new secondary school for Mull
BBC News
27-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
The debate on where to build Mull's new high school
Residents on a Scottish island are facing an almost impossible dilemma as their council debates the location for a new multi-million-pound secondary should be a milestone of progress for the Isle of Mull's infrastructure has created tensions between the community and the local authority. Parents in the north of the island want the new school to be built on the site of the current High School in Tobermory, in order to save their primary school. But those in the south want a school closer to them so their children will no longer have to be sent to Oban - at the age of 11 - on the mainland, where they have to board in hostels during the week. Argyll and Bute Council has shortlisted four options for the location of the new school, but has recommended the new school be built in local authority is expected to pause a vote on the location of the high school, which was scheduled for Thursday, until 7 March. The isle of Mull is the fourth largest Scottish island and has an area of 338 square Mull's only high school is in Tobermory, the most populated town on the island, and encompasses a nursery and primary it is in a state of islanders are calling for the new school to be built in a more central location, such as Craignure, which is home to the main ferry port and the island's would would mean children from the Ross of Mull, who currently live out with Tobermory High School's catchment area, could attend school on the present, these children need to attend high school in Oban, on the Argyll mainland, and stay in a hostel during the council's preferred option is to build a replacement school in Tobermory but the "like-for-like" element of the funding means the island's capital would then lose its early years and primary community members had hoped that a "split option" would be made available allowing a central high school to built as well a new primary school and nursery for the community of Tobermory, but the council says that is too expensive. 'Tobermory can't lose it's primary school' Marion MacLean lives in Tobermory and her two daughters currently attend the high the decision won't directly impact on her family, Marion feels this is the "one chance to get it right for every child that lives on the island".While she feels its important not be "remiss of the feelings" of families in the Ross of Mull, she has concerns about the impact on the village she has called home all her told BBC Scotland News: "Tobermory can't lose it's primary school. "It would have a huge impact on the businesses on the high street, and I think we would lose that community feel of having the children around the town during the day." Four miles off the main road through the Ross of Mull is the village of Carsaig, which is home to Amy Simpson and her daughters Daisy, six, and Rosie, said that if the council's preferred option of a new school in Tobermory is selected she would feel forced to leave her village, when her kids reach secondary school age, rather than be separated from them if they had to board in added: "We love our life here, we have become an integral part of our community."We don't want to leave and we don't want to take our kids out of this community, this is where they were born and where they are growing up." 'We fear being excluded' Fifty-miles south of Tobermory, a journey which takes around an hour and a half in a car due to the single track roads, is the village of Claxton-Ingham, who lives on a croft with his husband, said the future was uncertain as he doesn't know where his foster child will attend secondary things stand she faces travelling and boarding in Oban every week - like all children on the south of the told BBC Scotland News: "As a foster-carer, our child has faced separation and loss already from her birth family and has had to transition to us as her substitute carers"The thought of her transitioning again at the age of 11 to a school, over the sea, where she has to get a ferry, where she won't get our day-to-day support, is hard."Rob said high school has always been "an issue" for the community, and people have "learned to be as ok as they can be with it"."But this situation is developing something new and it really hurts that Argyll and Bute council could develop something new and, actually while doing that plan, to continue excluding people at this end of the island," he added. 'We want equality across the island' Rebekah MacLean and her four kids, also live in the village of youngest children attend the local primary school, but for her secondary aged children things are a little bit more said: "For me, what I am seeking is equality across the island for all children whether that's primary age, early education or secondary students."One key aspect of that is the secondary school being centrally based, so all the children can attend and no child has to be put in the position of choosing between education and family."Rebekah has managed to make arrangements with her son, Jude, 15, to stay with a family friend in Tobermory during the week so he is slightly closer to home, while her daughter, Acacia, 14, is is also in favour of a centrally-located school so that when it comes to his sibling's time to go to high school, they can stay at home and have a less uninterrupted education than said: "I do worry that because I have to travel so far, I have less time in school."I want to be an engineer, that requires straight A's. "I worry I won't be able to get those because I have to travel so much and I'm maybe behind in class." It is clear that the debate on where the new school should be built is an issue that in consuming you go, everyone has an opinion on and Bute council said: "Building a new 2-18 campus on Mull is Argyll and Bute Council's single biggest investment estimated at £43m."Following extensive community engagement and detailed assessments, Councillors will consider a report recommending a preferred site on 27 February with a motion already tabled to hold a special meeting to consider the issue on 7 March."
