“Stanley Primary School in Ardrossan opened in August 2007. Part of the disastrous PPP contract that continues to afflict this Council, the school design was criticised in advance of its build.
The criticisms, from parents, pupils, staff and local residents, included the fact that the school was simply too small. This criticism was blithely dismissed by the Labour administration.
It did not take long for the foresight of everyone but those who built the school to be proven correct. As the school roll increased pupils at the school were soon shunted into huts to be taught. An arrangement that continues to this day. (And an arrangement that was yet another windfall for the private, off-shore organisations that hold the PPP contract.)
Part of the issue was the lack of land in the new school estate as the Labour administration followed up one disastrous decision by another, namely selling the land that was the site of the old school. A decision I opposed at the time but one that was forced through by the Labour administration in concert with their friends. The pupils were thus doubly disadvantaged. Not only are they being taught in huts their play space was severely restricted to accommodate the buildings.
In the years since I have continually sought a resolution to this problem. A problem that was foreseen and one that the administration ignored.
The building of the new Lockhart Campus, a project supported by money from the Scottish Government, offered a potential solution to the problem. The space created by the closure of the James McFarlane school could be utilised to create a new early years space, allowing the primary pupils to be re-integrated into their school, playgrounds to be returned, huts to be removed, and the extra payments to the PPP company ceased.
This solution, so clear to those in Ardrossan, has once again been dismissed out of hand.
It is not too late to address the issue. Will the Administration pledge to fully investigate the opportunity to provide adequate facilities for the children and bring fully costed proposals back to this chamber for decision?”