Kilbowie demolition would be vandalism says MSP Russell
Demolishing Kilbowie Outdoor Centre would be vandalism says MSP Michael Russell, writes Kathie Griffiths.
Mr Russell says North Lanarkshire Council’s recent decision to close its ‘great facility’ in Oban was already ‘educational vandalism’ but said it would be ‘doubly wrong’ to vandalise the site as well.
North Lanarkshire Council’s (NLC) own website reveals plans to offer the recently upgraded centre’s main site for sale as a ‘cleared site’ later this year.
Mr Russell said it was an ‘extraordinary’ move and added: ‘North Lanarkshire has been guilty of educational vandalism in closing Kilbowie, especially given the need for outdoor education.
‘If they are now intending to demolish the building, as many of the staff believe, then they will be committing actual vandalism too,’ he said.
Oban councillor Roddy McCuish said the centre should be ‘mothballed’ during Covid uncertainty in case it could be used for emergency accommodation or extra classroom space.
NLC councillors narrowly voted for the centre’s closure at a policy and strategy meeting at the beginning of February despite outrage from supporters of the Save Kilbowie Outdoor Centre (SKOC) group.
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said this week: ‘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.’
Kathleen Murgatroyd who retired from Kilbowie’s staff in 2005 and has been backing the SKOC group said demolition would be ‘drastic’ with ‘no going back’.
Until Covid, all primary seven children in North Lanarkshire, about 100 miles from Oban, got the chance to attend Kilbowie every academic year while it also hosted a number of Oban community-based activities at weekends and in the holidays.
As well as employing outdoor instructors there were also Argyll and Bute Council jobs supplying catering and cleaning services.