News / Mackenzie: I’ll call for a call in
MIKE Mackenzie, the SNP list MSP for the highlands and islands, has pledged to call on the Scottish government to block the closure of Urafirth and North Roe primary schools if Shetland Islands Council votes to shut them next week.
Mackenzie told a group of 35 parents and local people at Urafirth primary school that there were grounds for opposing the closures on transport grounds alone.
His comments came one day after three councillors witnessed it would take more than an hour to bus primary schoolchildren to Ollaberry if the two schools shut.
“I think there is a very robust case to retain the status quo on the travel times alone,” he said.
“I am hopeful the council makes the right decision, but if it doesn’t I will certainly be making the case quite powerfully to the Scottish government that they call it in and after that have an inquiry.”
He added later that he felt the entire consultation on closing schools in Shetland had been “flawed”.
“One of the things that concerns me is that the council has not been listening and some people feel they have been bullied or treated quite aggressively by the council, and that’s something I take very seriously,” he said.
“For that reason alone I think there is a question mark about the validity of the consultation.”
Mackenzie spent the weekend in Shetland meeting with campaigners fighting to protect Shetland’s junior high and primary schools.
At Urafirth he said he was gratified to hear that the rural population around Hillswick and Eshaness was growing rapidly with new houses being built, freeing up social housing for new families to move in.
Urafirth primary school will have at least 24 pupils in five years, half of them coming from Eshaness, which has seen a veritable population explosion over the past few years.
However the SIC’s consultation has restricted the school roll forecast to just two years, after which Urafirth will become a two teacher school if its stays open.
Local businesswoman Christina Nicolson, who runs the successful Braewick Café and Caravan Park, said no private business would base its plans on out of date figures.
She added that closing Urafirth and North Roe would force children into composite classes with two teachers in one room.
“There is no way that can be described as better for bairns or being of educational benefit. It would be like trying to watch TV with a radio on beside you,” she said.
Urafirth parent council chairwoman Claire Herridge said she was disappointed only one councillor from outside the area, Theo Smith, had joined local members Andrea Manson and Alastair Cooper on the bus trip that children would face if the schools closed.
“The bus trip from Stenness, where twins have just been born in September, took 40 minutes without stoppages.
There could be up to 10 stops, making it over one hour travel time,” she said, well above the government guidelines.
Mackenzie added that it was vital that rural populations be encouraged to grow to counter “the ageing demographic”, so there were enough young people to care for the increasing number of elderly folk.
“We need to maintain balanced communities and we can do that in Shetland where there are jobs and careers, it’s a very prosperous place with great opportunities. Schools closing can be the death knell for communities.”
He is meeting housing minister Margaret Burgess soon to lobby for a rural housing fund to be set up to build small numbers of homes in remote parts of Scotland.
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