Save Our School campaigners from Luing will be lobbying councillors for a change of heart this week.
Members of the council’s community services committee meet this Thursday, March 7, to decide on recommendations to formally close both Luing Primary School and also Achaleven Primary School in Connel.
Luing’s school has been mothballed for three years, and Achaleven for two years.
A report says the two school catchment areas currently contain very low numbers and these are not forecast to rise any time soon. The total cost to Argyll and Bute Council of mothballing the two buildings comes to an annual total of more than £27,000.
Consultation exercises, including public meetings, have taken place on the future of both schools and details were given in reports ahead of the meeting.
In relation to Luing Primary School, a report said: “A large number of responses raised the issue that the closure of Luing Primary School will have a significant impact on the economic viability and community sustainability of Luing.
“They felt closure of the school will be detrimental in that it will discourage new families with school age children from moving to the island.
“If there is not a demand for homes on the island then this will result in fewer or no new housing being developed.
“They also believed that this could lead to fewer young people wishing to remain on the island – again impacting on the local economy and community sustainability.
“Several responses highlighted that work was under way and at an early stage in terms of boosting the economy of the island, such as the reopening of the slate quarry.
“The council is committed to exploring opportunities to sustain and further enhance the local economies of all of its rural and island communities. Cognisance has to be given to the fact that there are a large number of rural and island communities across Argyll and Bute.
“The fact that Luing Primary school is currently mothballed is not desirable or attractive to families considering moving into an area – meaning the low school roll is a product of circumstance rather than as a result of actions taken by the education service.
“As identified in the proposal paper, the school roll is zero and not currently projected to rise to a level which will make the school viable for reopening in the near future.
“The future of the school therefore necessarily needs to be considered following this consultation exercise.”
A table published in the report also showed that of the 41 written responses received during the consultation period, five agreed with the proposal and 36 disagreed.
The report added: “The education authority identified and assessed a number of reasonable alternatives in its proposal paper and as part of the preliminary requirements. No further reasonable alternatives to the proposal were submitted as part of the public consultation process.”
A joint response from Luing Community Council and Luing Community Trust argued there is: "insufficient evidence to justify moving to closure, and given the risks of further depopulation associated with this proposal, the right decision is to extend the mothballing of Luing Primary School."
The report on Achaleven said: “There was one written response received during the consultation period. The written response was submitted by the chair of the Dunbeg Parent Council and asked for consideration to increase the catchment area of Dunbeg instead of Lochnell, or alternatively for pupils to continue to be zoned to either Lochnell or Dunbeg Primary Schools.
“No views were given that Achaleven Primary School should reopen for educational purposes. Views were expressed that consideration should be given to an alternative realignment of the Achaleven Primary School catchment area, in that it should be subsumed by Dunbeg Primary School.”
However, the recommendation to councillors is that Lochnell Primary School’s catchment area is extended to take in pupils from the Achaleven catchment area.
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