Education Secretary delivers shocking new twist in Arbroath school saga
The Scottish Government has killed off Angus Council's £8 million ''superschool'' application.
Muirfield Primary is one of the schools that would have closed under the plan.
- By Graeme Bletcher
- Published in the Courier : 01.02.12
- Published online : 01.02.12 @ 10.19am
In a sudden and unexpected move, Education Secretary Michael Russell completely rejected the proposal to close Muirfield and Timmergreens primaries in Arbroath, in favour of a new build at the town's Hospitalfield.
Mr Russell cited a lack of transparency in the council's audit trail as the reason for refusing the plan, which has been dogged by controversy since the outset.
But Angus Council education convener Peter Nield accused the SNP of purposely delaying the decision, and vowed to take the matter to the High Court.
He said: ''The minister himself decided that there was a lack of transparency in the audit trail. At the end of the day this application was approved by the council estates, the audit committee, Audit Scotland, Tayside Police and the procurator fiscal service and we published absolutely everything.
''I have said all along that there must be political motives in play and to turn it down on reasons other than those it was called in on smacks of total conniving on behalf of the Scottish Government, particularly when my own freedom of iInformation (FoI) requests have been hidden behind environmental legislation.
''The minister has no more information now than he had in July last year, so what has taken so long? It is nothing more than a political delaying tactic. It means we will now go to a judicial review at the High Court to find out if the minister has acted outwith his powers, which I believe he has.''
The Scottish Government halted the progress of the proposal in July, after concerns were raised over a lack of proper consultation and an inadequate assessment of road safety requirements for the school.
However, Mr Nield claimed neither of those issues had been given as reasons for the refusal.
The leader of the SNP in Angus, Helen Oswald, said: ''I have not seen the minister's response, but if Muirfield and Timmergreens are to remain open then I would welcome it. I am pleased that our concerns and the concerns raised by members of the public have been addressed.''
Before the bid was submitted to Holyrood, it had already run into trouble, following revelations that a number of consultation responses were submitted from the same computer.
The online survey was carried out by the council in 2009/10 on plans to merge Timmergreens and Muirfield, but FoI figures revealed 1,033 accesses had been made from a single IP address and multiple responses amounted to 711 out of 865 total entries.
Following that, handwritten documents from a schools inspector surfaced suggesting the condition ratings of both schools had been altered from within the council, after inspections had been carried out.
The authority sustained another blow when a report from within their own roads division warned that ''no design'' would stop traffic from backing up on to the busy Westway at peak picking-up and dropping-off times.
Muirfield Action Group, led by parent Ewan Smith, has been responsible for uncovering the majority of data that have cast a shadow on the application, via FoI requests.
As the 500-capacity school was classed as a capital spend, the £8 million earmarked for it will not necessarily fall to another education project and could go on the likes of sea wall defences or flood alleviation.
Arbroath Independent councillor David Fairweather said: ''I am absolutely stunned at this decision. The SNP opposition along with Muirfield Action Group have denied the west end of Arbroath a new school and a community hub for the first time in 40 years.
''We are now left with two schools operating under 50% capacity.''
The Scottish Government is yet to make public its statement for refusal and did not respond to a request for comment.
01.29pm - 01.02.2012 Mrs Hurst - arbroath, angus Report This
maybe they could spend a small portion of the 8 million on a crossing patrol at another school in the town where children have to cross themselves and dodge vehicles speeding along past the school gate!
05.25pm - 01.02.2012 Integrity? - Helensburgh, Argyll Report This
Not sure how this is a ‘shocking new twist It has been on the cards for ages. It would appear the Courier has taken Cllr Neild's description of events and accepted them as gospel. Ask him for the evidence that AS, the Police and PF have approved the application. I doubt he will be able to provide it
06.43pm - 01.02.2012 Wendy - Angus, Scotland Report This
Angus SNP's behaviour on this matter points exactly what is wrong when local councillors put party loyalty before that of their local community.
08.23pm - 01.02.2012 morag - Glenbarr, Scotland Report This
Seems the council have got themselves in a pickle!
02.27am - 02.02.2012 Terry McCrodden - Wakefield/Arbroath, United Kingdom Report This
Cllr. Nields assertion that the project was approved by various committees, etc. It looks to me that the report they were presented omitted lots of relevant information thereby, in my opinion, securing approvals from these bodies. If they had been aware of this info. would they have approved it?
12.36pm - 02.02.2012 RedLichtie - Arbroath, Scotland Report This
Wendy, the SNP voted against the school closures, it was the Angus Alliance who all said it was fine to shut down schools based on inaccurate surveyor reports and a flawed consultation in favour of a new one on The Westway. Were you in favour of them or have you got your councillors mixed up?
08.22pm - 02.02.2012 Wendy - Angus, Scotland Report This
RedLichtie, DO waken up. The elections are near. For goodness sake either declare your party loyalty or state that you have no clue about tawdry political opportunism!
01.44am - 04.02.2012 RedLichtie - Arbroath, Scotland Report This
Wendy, you don't need party loyalty to work this one out, just commonsense. The school was a farcical idea built on flawed evidence, a shocking consultation process and an unhealthy desire to ignore expert advice and put it on a busy main road. Ask parents what THEY think of this ego-driven venture.
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