Council chief vows to fix Conon 'shambles' school

THE new chief executive of Highland Council has given his personal assurance that outstanding problems at a £9million Ross-shire school —– dogged by faults since it opened a year ago —– will be addressed.

That was the message three local councillors came away with on Thursday morning when they met with Steve Barron and other senior officials to discuss ongoing snags and issues at Ben Wyvis Primary School in Conon Bridge.

Last week the Ross-shire Journal revealed a long list of faults included doors falling off, subsidence, the first community kitchen being unfit for purpose and the cooker not working in the replacement kitchen. It also emerged this week there is a problem with the outdoor lighting.

It was claimed that workmen had been at the school every week since it opened in October last year to fix and repair faults.

The local community council chair described the community wing as a “shambles”, claiming a design flaw meant they could not hold lunch clubs and coffee mornings as planned because the school has to use it as canteen space.

Local councillor Alister Mackinnon said many of the problems were caused by poor workmanship and he couldn’t defend the council’s delivery of the project.

Yesterday morning he and his fellow councillors, Angela MacLean and Graham MacKenzie, met with Mr Barron to thrash out a solution.

Councillor Mackinnon said the issue was so serious the councillors felt they had to speak directly to the newly-installed chief executive.

After the meeting, Councillor Mackinnon told the Journal: “Mr Barron has promised and given us his commitment that he will personally ensure that our outstanding issues are addressed and we will be liaising with him as to the timescale.”

He said the local members were also told that a report will come before the education committee in November, setting out the problems and how the council intended to address them.

Councillor Mackinnon said he was happy with the assurances and hoped that lessons had been learned. He said the most important lesson was communication, as there has to good communication between the various sections involved in a school project, including the community bodies.

Asked for specifics on the “outstanding issues”, the councillor said there were various matters that needed action, including the lighting and the community kitchen.

Councillor Mackinnon also said he hoped the report would give “total and utter clarity” on all aspects of the school project, including the cost implications of the faults.

“I want everything in that report. If anything is missing from that report, anything I’m not happy with, I’ll be asking for further information,” he said.

The amalgamated school which replaced the previous primaries at Conon and Maryburgh, has 234 pupils and boasts 10 classrooms, a large school library, double games hall, a dance studio and the community wing known as the Leanaig Centre.

The Ross-shire Journal contacted the Highland Council eight days ago asking for details on the specific faults, what has been done to rectify them and what the cost implications have been. Despite repeated follow-up calls and emails the council failed to comment before we went to press.