The Scottish Government has killed off Angus Council’s £8 million ”superschool” application.
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.