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Parents fight to retain Castlebay nursery school                5/2/12

Barra parents have pledged to continue their fight against shifting Castlebay Nursery School from its home for the past ten years.

The council wants to relocate infants from their modern purpose-built facility across the road into Castlebay Primary School. The fabric of the school is in poor condition.

While this would save the Comhairle about £11,000 it also threatens the community building which was specifically built to provide pre-school facilities for both English and Gaelic medium infants. A cafe and offices within the complex are rented out.

The local authority insists it wants the move for educational reasons.

Campaigners point out that the facilities sin the primary school are not suitable though the council pledges to refurbish rooms up to standard before the children move in. The renovations would take place this summer.

The nursery would stay within the Children’s Centre building until accommodation within the school has been inspected and approved by relevant bodies. Parents say the proposed relocation would take up rooms needed for an increased intake of primary pupils.

Around 100 people attended a heated public meeting on the issue where numerous people urged the council to axe the proposal.

Parents are not happy with the responses from council officials at the meeting and criticised the consultation process. Many are concerned at the shift from up-to-date accommodation into a poorer quality building.

A ballot on Wednesday evening showed an overwhelmingly demand to keep things as they are. Some 59 parents voted to retain the nursery at the Children's Centre while only  two though it would be better to move to the primary school.

Critics say the relocation means children would lose an open-plan reading area and reduce space for wet weather play. They are worried over the absence of appropriate toilet facilities for nursery children which means the infants will have to share toilets with senior primary pupils or walk down a long corridor to the P1 toilets.

Campaigners say that the move will not tackle the growing demand for Gaelic nursery places with the council plans only creating four additional places at a cost of £63,000.

Campaigners urge islanders to make representations to the Comhairle before the consultation’s deadline on 29th February.