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I received this comment - I think it is very important...

"Below is the letter that the Council claim shows that the School Board supports the Thomas Muir site.

The Interim School Board did not actually respond during the consultation period which ended in May, so strictly speaking their response should not have been included along with those School Boards who took the trouble to submit their thoughts before the deadline.

At no time did the School Board actually solicit the views of the parents it is supposed to represent. The letter even says it is THEIR OWN thoughts - not the parents!!

The letter also makes it clear that the Builders had only SUGGESTED that there would be benefits, which as we all know are in short supply even now that the convenient cloak of secrecy has been partly removed from the proposal. The real benefits are to the Builders bottom line...not the pupils of the future generations of Bishopbriggs.

The second last paragraph even states that the benefits have still to be proven.

Therefore if Sandy McGarvie and the Lib Dems are taking this as support for this decision they are on shaky ground. No change there then!

It should be noted also that a School Board survey of those taking part in the Human Chain showed that no one was concerned with 'House Prices'. The main concerns were Parking, pupils’ safety and the distance to school.

As the Academy is a new entity shouldn't there be fresh elections for a new School Board....one that asks parents and listens to their concerns rather than apparently representing themselves or their employers."

The letter that the board sent to councillors....

16 June 2006



Dear Councillor,

PROPOSED SITE OF BISHOPBRIGGS ACADEMY

We are writing to you in our position as joint Chairs of the Interim School Board for Bishopbriggs Academy to express our views on the proposed site for the new school.

It has come to the notice of the Board that a pressure group purporting to be the voice of the majority of residents of Woodhill is holding a demonstration on Saturday 17th June 2006. The purpose of this demonstration is to voice concern regarding the possible site of the new school on the grounds of Thomas Muir High School.

In light of this information, we feel that it is the duty of the elected school board to voice our own thoughts on where the new school should be built.

During this process over the past couple of years, various proposals have been put forward and it is fair to say that members of both the Bishopbriggs High School Board and Thomas Muir High School Board were of the opinion that the new school should be built at their own respective site.

As you know the majority of parents and responses to the Council were that the new school should be built at the Bishopbriggs High site. However, the builders have now suggested that they would be able to build a bigger and better facility at the Thomas Muir site. This suggestion has caused some consternation amongst this pressure group as they do not want a school built in ‘their backyard’. This view does not seem to take into account that fact that there is already a school on that site and has been for the past 28 years.

It is fair to say that initially the Interim Board was divided on this issue until clarification was sought from the Council regarding the proposed significant educational benefits that would be gained from building at Thomas Muir. The response included the following points:

• A safer and more secure educational environment
• Increased external sports facilities
• Clearer site lines for supervision
• Improved access
• Less traffic congestion
• Located in a residential area away from noise pollution
• A better sense of community
• A social hub that is flat and not vertically stacked
• A flat topography ensuring maximum quality of design
• A design that is not constrained by the physical barriers of the site (i.e. the existing private nursery and former janitor’s house at the Bishopbriggs site)


Following on from receiving this information it became the view of the Interim Board that it was the duty of all concerned to build the best possible school at the best possible site. If the Council decided to build on the Thomas Muir site if this met the criteria then that would indeed provide the best possible educational facility for the children and residents of Bishopbriggs for the next 30 years.

It is fair to say that the Board is concerned regarding the actions of the pressure group that do not seem to have the best interests of the children at heart and are only driven to ensure that the school is not built on their doorstep thus possibly reducing the value of their homes. This argument is flawed and blinkered. The Board is concerned that some councillors are taking the view that the pressure group speak for the majority of Bishopbriggs residents when in actual fact they are not.

The opportunity to build a brand new school and community facility does not come along everyday. This is the one and only chance we will have to create a fantastic educational facility of the highest standard for the pupils and residents of Bishopbriggs for the next 30 or so years.

The Board would urge that the councillors do not vote to assuage the voices of a few who are blinkered in the views and that the decision is taken to build the new school on the best possible site. If that is proven to be the site at Thomas Muir then that is where the new school should be built.

The children of Bishopbriggs deserve the best school possible and only if the Council select the BEST site will they actually get what they deserve.


Yours sincerely



William Graham
Carol Johnstone

Co-Chairs
Interim School Board
Bishopbriggs Academy

The letter has been published under the school boards legal responsibility as stated in school board legislation ...

Legal responsibilities

Public and parents have right of access to meetings and to documentation