A pair of Arbroath nurseries are to merge in a move which has thrown the value of Angus Council public consultations into the spotlight.
One councillor said the public thinks the authority does ‘what it wants to do’ when it comes to consultation outcomes.
Forfar Conservative Ross Greig made his comments as the area’s education committee agree the administrative closure of Hayshead and St Thomas nursery classes.
They sit under the same roof of Abbey View Campus in Arbroath, which the two local primary schools moved to in 2020.
Officials say the change to a single early learning set up will rationalise management, improve resources and save money.
The plan was backed by the Scottish Government’s education directorate.
Poor consultation response to nurseries plan
A public consultation on the proposal flopped.
No-one turned up to a public meeting organised to discuss the closures and there were just 19 responses to an online survey.
But 11 of those “explicitly disagreed” with the proposal.
The survey included 108 families and 31 staff directly affected.
Among concerns raised was the loss of faith emphasis for parents planning to send their child to St Thomas RC school.
Councillor opposes nurseries closure
Mr Greig moved against the plan in light of the consultation feedback.
“We agreed to have a consultation and 52.6% did not agree with the proposals,” he said.
“There was a very small uptake but it hasn’t given any answers to why the uptake was so low.”
And he highlighted the wider question of council consultations.
“I’ve asked members of the public about what their opinions on council consultations are,” he added.
“Their response is that they don’t really matter because ‘the council won’t listen to what we say’ and will do what they want to do.
“Unfortunately this seems to be a prime example of that.
“In this case I’m going to side with the overwhelming majority who did respond.”
Consultation figure a ‘nonsense’
Committee convener Lynne Devine said: “It was a terribly small number who replied.
“A lot of people got the opportunity to put in their recommendations and ideas and they really didn’t take it up.”
SNP colleague Bill Duff added: “Obviously consultations are important…but the number of people who have taken part is absolutely tiny.
“Talking about 52% when looking at less than 20 people is just a nonsense.”
The committee voted 11-6 to approve the plan.
It will now be submitted to Scottish Ministers for final approval.
Conversation