Row erupts over St Ronan's breakdown

Published 9 Mar 2010 12:05 0 Comments

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A POLITICAL row has kicked off in Tweeddale over a £230,000 extension to St Ronan's Nursery.

SNP councillor Bill Herd and Tory councillor Gavin Logan have both accused Executive Member for Education, Catriona Bhatia, of sidelining them not just on this but other matters also.

Parents and community councillors in Innerleithen were up in arms last week about a plan to expand the nursery by erecting a cabin from the old Kingsland school site in Peebles.

This resulted in Lib Dem councillor Bhatia having to calm fears that the extension is in fact a modern facility used by many other nurseries across the region and not 'a cast-off', as thought by many.

The confusion, both sides agreed at Innerleithen Community Council on Monday night, stemmed from a lack of clear information on the matter between the council and parents, as a result of St Ronan's Headteacher Chris McKeesick, being removed from his post last year.

SBC's Head of Primary Schools, Yvonne McCracken, said at the meeting: "The discontinuity which occurred following Mr McKeesick's leaving did not help matters. It's unfortunate that consultation on this has gone wrong and we are keen to find a resolution to this."

However, councillors Logan and Herd both feel that parents weren't the only ones kept in the dark about the nursery extension.

The council's exact position on the matter was in fact only made known to councillor Herd as a result of him being briefed by Yvonne McCracken only minutes before the meeting took place.

A fact which he says points to Ms Bhatia's increasing marginalisation of rival party members on matters of education.

This feeling was later reinforced when it emerged that Ms Bhatia and fellow Lib Dem and Tweeddale East Councillor, Graham Garvie, had met with current headteacher Keith Belleville about the matter only four days before on Thursday February 25.

A meeting which Tweeddale East Councillors Logan and Herd feel they should have been present at.

Bill Herd said: "Councillor Bhatia keeps all matters concerning education either to herself or her Lid Dem colleague. Myself and Gavin Logan are also local council members and we are always a step behind because of her reluctance to part with information.

"It looks bad on me that I don't know what's going on in my own ward but how can I when Ms Bhatia never allows us to know anything.

"It's like education is her own personal fiefdom."

Gavin Logan echoed this. He said: "In order that all councillors are able to do the job they were elected to do, it is important that they have equal access to any information that is relevant to their ward. Time and again we are kept from matters regarding education. All we ask for is parity."

However Councillor Bhatia refutes any suggestion that she uses her role as Executive Member for Education unfairly.

She said: "I was invited to attend St Ronan's on the invitation of the school's headteacher Keith Belleville. It's not for me to tell him who to invite to his meetings.

"Councillors Logan and Herd can have all the information that they wish, almost all of it is open to them anyway, for anything else they only need ask me. I regularly meet with councillors from across the Borders and I'm only ever happy to help them on any educational issues.

"The job of every councillor is to ask questions and look after their ward so I find it pathetic for them that they seem to almost want to be spoonfed."

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