Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Why the big rush to demolish Kilbowie?
MSP hits out at ‘reckless decision’ and calls for councillors to be allowed to look at issue again
Kilbowie outdoor centre is set to be demolished later this year as North Lanarkshire Council get set to sell its property near Oban.
The local authority voted in January to close the popular facility, which provided week-long residential courses for Primary Seven pupils and allowed them to try a range of watersports and adventurous activities.
Now its main building is set to be knocked down, with a contract expected to be put in place soon and the site cleared by the end of the year.
However, Coatbridge MSP and former councillor Fulton MacGregor says the move “feels like a rushed job” and insisted that elected members should again have a say ahead of a “permanent and reckless decision”.
Meanwhile, his Holyrood colleague Michael Russell – who represents the Argyll & Bute constituency where the centre is located – called it “educational vandalism”.
Kilbowie’s controversial closure – opposed by hundreds of campaigning parents and pupils – was narrowly agreed by just one vote at a meeting in January.
A further bid by the SNP group to retain it at a special meeting in March proved unsuccessful.
A council spokesperson this week told the Advertiser: “A procurement contract to demolish the remaining buildings at the former outdoor centre will be issued in the coming weeks. The work is expected to be completed by the end of the year and the land will then be marketed for sale; any receipts from the sale of this land will be put towards our capital investment programme, for example to create new school and community hubs.”
A recently-published page on the authority’s website notes: “North Lanarkshire Council currently intends to offer the former Kilbowie outdoor centre to the market later this year.
“It is intended that the asset will be sold as two lots – main site including buildings, to be sold as a cleared site, [of ] 6.62 acres, and C-listed stable block converted to classroom and storage space [of] 444 square metres.”
Mr MacGregor said: “It ’ s astounding that we’re seeing this cherished facility not just closed, but reportedly completely torn down.
“This feels like a rushed job from North Lanarkshire Council. No consideration has been given to the fact that the facility could reopen in future or still be saved.
“I feel that this is a matter councillors should be able to vote on, as demolition and closure are certainly two different matters.
“Such a permanent and reckless decision needs to be given proper consideration and I would urge North Lanarkshire to bring this forward to full council.”
He added: “Outdoor education is vital, now more than ever, and future generations will be irreversibly deprived of the enjoyment of this wonderful facility if it is to be demolished.”
Mr Russell, his party colleague at Holyrood, called the demolition news “extraordinary” and said: “It simply adds insult to injury.”
He said that Kilbowie “has been much used and much loved over the years by generations of young people”, and added: “The council leader has showed his contempt for the people of Argyll & Bute in his attitude to the very proper and positive representations from their elected representatives about Kilbowie.
“Now he seems to want to add to that by committing actual vandalism against the buildings, which stand in a prominent position on the shore next to one of Scotland’s premier tourist towns; his administration having already committed educational vandalism by depriving the young people of Lanarkshire of the vital benefits of outdoor education, which is actually more needed than ever after the lockdown.”
Kilbowie was originally due to close last month, but ended up hosting its final groups in March before shutting its doors due to the coronavirus lockdown.
North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim Logue told how the buildings have been declared surplus to requirements, and said: “There are major issues with the main building, so the proposal is for that to be demolished and the site cleared, and then for it to be advertised.”
The Airdrie Central representative added of the decision: “We’re now the only authority who owns an outdoor education centre; there’s a different approach to outdoor education, from early years right through.
“We have education officers and head teachers working together on a comprehensive, detailed plan of how we’re going to continue outdoor education.
“It’s all very well introducing young people to the outdoors at Kilbowie but there’s no continuum where they can keep on these activities when they come back here.
“It needs a broader view for the medium to long term, to take it forward with a whole new approach.”
He said of Mr Russell’s view: “He wrote to me about this as Oban is in his constituency. He’s looking from an Argyll & Bute perspective, but we have to take a broader view about what’s best for young people in North Lanarkshire.”
It’s astounding we’re seeing this cherished facility not just closed, but reportedly torn down