Councillors to discuss scrapping disputed shared campus plans for Borders primary school
A council meeting on Thursday to consider the future of Eyemouth primary should be good news - but parents are less than convinced
Councillors are to consider scrapping disputed plans to put a new Eyemouth Primary on a shared campus with the secondary school.
An emergency debate has been tabled for the same day campaigning parents are holding a meeting to discuss proposals for the new school.
As told by The Scotsman in August, lobbying was prompted by the fact plans for the much-needed new school have suffered an 11-year delay.
However, parents have expressed scepticism over the proposals and repeated their claims a consultation on the future of the primary has been poorly handled.
It comes just days after Scottish Borders Council (SBC) was forced to apologise to nursery parents over a botched consultation on closing five local early years settings.
The council is looking at proposals that include both building a new stand-alone Eyemouth primary or creating a joint campus with Eyemouth High School.
Parents are emphatically opposed to the second option.
On Thursday, councillors will meet to discuss an emergency motion on the issue with mood music suggesting the shared campus option will be ditched.
Sarah Duncan, is a mum of four boys with her my eldest in high school and three youngest in primary school.
Mrs Duncan said: “We are all holding our breath for the special meeting vote on September 17.
“As encouraging as it is that this has become an issue to be taken seriously - after an 11 year wait - we can only hope that SBC has listened and are now willing to agree to a standalone primary school at the current site.”
However, Mrs Duncan said she speaks for the group when she says they feel SBC is unpredictable.
No matter the outcome of Thursday’s meeting, a campaign event at 6.30pm in Eyemouth Parish Church will go ahead.
“As promising as it sounds, we’ve been let down previously by SBC, who only last year agreed then continued to push the high school campus model,” Mrs Duncan added.
“We have legitimate concerns for the safeguarding and room to thrive at the high school campus for our young children, so until a standalone primary school has been agreed to by the vote on Thursday we will continue to campaign for our children to have equal standing in the Scottish Borders.”
Scottish Border Council (SBC) first launched a feasibility study for a new Eyemouth primary in 2015.
However, the project has repeatedly stalled and now SBC says it is short of funds for a replacement school.
John Lamont, Conservative MP for the area, is backing the parents’ campaign.
He said: “I hope and expect the council’s emergency meeting this week will approve the new standalone school which the local community is seeking.
“I will continue to represent the views of parents throughout this process.”
Eyemouth Primary’s existing building has mould, damp, ceiling tiles falling in and is not fit for purpose.
Parents are becoming increasingly frustrated with the decade’s long saga to see a new school built and had called for Scottish government intervention.
Last October, SBC launched a statutory consultation on proposals to incorporate the primary school into the high school building.
The consultation was withdrawn shortly before the end of the consultation period because of the number of negative responses - 369 or 421 replies objected to the proposal.
Scottish Conservative MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire said: “Eyemouth parents have fought tirelessly for a school that works for their children and their community, and they deserve to be listened to.
“I welcome Scottish Borders Council finally holding a special meeting and hope councillors deliver the outcome local families have been campaigning for.
“But a decision is only the first step - the SNP Government must now provide the capital funding needed to turn these plans into reality, despite the huge pressures already facing local councils.
“I’ll continue standing alongside Eyemouth families and pushing the Scottish Government to give this community the school it deserves”.
Scottish Borders Council has been contacted for comment.
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