Low pupil roll sees permanent closure for primary school near Lockerbie
The catchment area will be divided between Applegarth and Langholm Primaries.
A primary school based near Lockerbie which has been in limbo for four years will finally be closed, it was confirmed last week.
Hutton Primary, based at Boreland, will not reopen due to an unsustainable low school roll – and the catchment area for pupils will now be split between Applegarth Primary and Langholm Primary.
The decision was unanimously made by councillors at Dumfries and Galloway Council’s education committee last Thursday.
North West Dumfries Councillor Andy Ferguson insisted that closing the school is the right decision.
He said: “It’s a long, very detailed piece of work here (the consultation).
“As everyone says, you follow the evidence – and the evidence here is quite stark.
“It’s a good piece of work, the inclusion of everyone has been done, and personally I’ve had no-one come to me and say, ‘can you lobby to try and keep this school open?’
“I personally am happy to go along with the recommendations (for closure and realigning the catchment area).”
Annandale North Councillor Carolyne Wilson thanked the council’s education chiefs for the way in which they professionally handled the consultation process around a sensitive issue.
She said: “It was good to see the wide variety of engagement.
“I did attend all the public meetings at Boreland, and the feedback I got from parents, carers, and wider community was really good – especially given the difficult conversations that were had.”
There were just 12 responses received via the consultation’s online survey. Eight parents, one member of staff, and three members of the community shared their views.
Eight people were opposed to the closure of Hutton Primary and four were in favour of it.
Those filling in the online survey were asked which option they would prefer for realigning the pupil catchment area: Option A – realigned to Applegarth Primary; or Option B – split and realign the catchment area between Applegarth Primary and Langholm Primary.
The consultation report states: “Option B was the preferred option for two out of the three respondents that live in this specific area.
“One respondent noted that only the parents of pupils in the Eskdalemuir area should have the right to make the decision regarding splitting the
current Hutton Primary School catchment area as they are the ones impacted by the potential change.”
A public meeting was also held at Boreland Village Hall on May 21 this year to gather oral responses. This was attended by 14 members of the local community, along with Councillor Wilson, council education officers, the headteacher of Applegarth Primary School and Nethermill Primary School, and a representative from Education Scotland.