'No shortage of pupils' in village where council wants to close school

All opinions put forward during a consultation process on the future of Connel's closure-threatened primary school will be listened to, council officials have said.

 

A report on the future of Achaleven Primary School went before a key Argyll and Bute Council committee with a recommendation to agree that officers formulate a draft closure proposal.

 

The school has been mothballed since 2021, and a local councillor remarked that the situation was “regrettable”.

 

Council officers have conducted an assessment of the options for its future, and closure, along with realigning the catchment area of Lochnell Primary School to include Achaleven’s catchment area, was considered to be the most reasonable.

 

A draft closure proposal will now come back to the council’s community services committee in August, and would trigger a consultation process.

 

Discussion on the school’s future took place at the committee’s meeting on Thursday, March 9.

 

Independent councillor Kieron Green, whose Oban North and Lorn ward includes Connel, said: “It is really regrettable that we are in this situation with Achaleven, where parents have had to decide where to send their children to school.

 

“There is not a shortage of pupils in Connel – 36 potential pupils in the catchment area – and it is compact enough that the school could be easily accessed by walking or cycling.

 

“Recently I was at a meeting in the village where parents said that a nursery being available in the village would have improved the sustainability of the school.

 

“I am sure there will be an opportunity to fit this into the consultation, should it come to that, but can officers confirm this would be the case?

 

“With regard to the potential alternative catchment areas, the paper shows that a number of parents are deciding to send their children to Dunbeg.

 

“What will the arrangements be if the village of Connel is moved to Lochnell in its entirety? Will those pupils continue to be provided with transport?”

 

Councillor Yvonne McNeilly (Conservative, Cowal), the committee’s chair and the authority’s policy lead on education, told councillor Green: “You know the processes, having been vice-chair of this committee.

 

“Last time around, with other schools, clear assurances were given to communities to take account of the views of all stakeholders, and that will be the case again.”

 

Graeme McMillan, the council’s transformation programme manager, added: “The process is quite a long one, if the committee agreed to a draft closure proposal and it went out to consultation.

 

“In terms of stakeholder involvement, if they have other alternatives not considered in the papers, they would be taken on board.

 

“On Dunbeg, my understanding is that transport provision would continue for those children currently attending there.”