BY Ian Dunn | April 4 | 
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Parents threaten boycott of new school
Parents have threatened not to send their children to a new joint Catholic secondary school planned at Ravenscraig as North Lanarkshire Council’s hopes for the school face increasing opposition.
At a stormy public meeting in Our Lady’s High in Motherwell last week proceedings were dominated with parents expressing fears about the possible contamination of the land.
Some even went so far as to claim they would refuse to send their children to the new £36m school planned to accommodate an amalgamated Our Lady’s and Taylor Highs.
The council tried to play down these fears by saying that SEPA has 16 reports that maintain the site is safe and that it is actually even safer than would be necessary for a school.
Crawford Morgan, head of regeneration, said he ‘would never expose a child to a site that wasn’t safe and all the reports say the capping is doing its job.’
Central Scotland List MSP Richard Lyle criticised the council, saying they could be set to profit from a gift to the people of New Stevenston. The land off Carfin Street was originally gifted by the Colville family.
Mr Lyle, who lives just yards from Taylor High, is annoyed at the thought it may soon become another housing development if and when Taylor merges with Our Lady’s High in Motherwell and moves to a new £36 million campus at Ravenscraig.
“After Wrangholm Hall burned down the land was made as a gift to the people of New Stevenston by the Colville family,” he said. “However, about 15 years ago the school took over the half that was meant to be held for use by the village, which I opposed at the time. If this proposal goes ahead there will be a situation where the council will likely make a vast profit out of selling this land for housing which is something I can’t tolerate.”
Mr Lyle, a former Bellshill councillor, also has fears over the proposed Ravenscraig site, which sits between Calder Park and Prospecthill Road. “While assurances were given about the land being safe at the learning and leisure services committee meeting the capping was done for houses and the weight limit of an entire school is quite different,” he said. “When I was on the council there was never a proposal to build a senior school at Ravenscraig, just primary schools.”
The council’s consultation into the new development continues.
—This story ran in full in the April 4 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.
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