East Dunbartonshire Council has tonight (Thursday 15 November) agreed to progress the delivery of a new build Additional Support Needs school in Kirkintilloch, to meet the future needs of some of the most vulnerable young people in the area.
Joint Council Leader Vaughan Moody is delighted to be taking the next steps towards the delivery of the new school. He said, “In March this year we agreed to carry out a consultation to improve support for children with Additional Support Needs in East Dunbartonshire and to replace Campsie View School and Merkland School with a new build specialist school to meet our future needs.
“Tonight, Council considered the consultation report and agreed to proceed with the proposal so we will now forward our report to the Scottish Government for consideration.”
The Council’s consultation document was sent out to over 400 stakeholders. Five public meetings were also held, including in Waterside, and pupils in both Merkland and Campsie View schools were asked for their views.
Joint Council Leader Andrew Polson added, “Responses from our school communities were overwhelmingly in support of the proposal, with comments emphasising the need for a new school to fully meet the needs of our area. Whilst concerns have been raised about the impact of the proposed new school in the Waterside community, we are committed to ensuring that the impact will be positive and the new school and wider development of the Waterside site will provide additional facilities for the community to access.”
An independent assessment of the report on the consultation was carried out by Education Scotland who found the Council to have consulted appropriately and believed the proposal to be justified and to have educational benefit. The full consultation report can be found on the Council website.
Following agreement to proceed with the proposal, the Council will now forward the consultation report to the Scottish Government in line with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. Scottish Ministers will then have eight weeks to decide if they will call in the decision for review. For the first three weeks of this period, members of the public may make further representations to the Government. Implementation of the proposal can only proceed when Ministerial consent to close Campsie View and Merkland Schools is granted.
Follow us on Twitter @EDCouncil or like us on www.facebook.com/edunbartonshirecouncil