Mothballing of Aberdeenshire nurseries to be paused

Aberdeenshire Council is set to recommend pausing the mothballing of four rural nurseries.

The local authority informed parents in April that Ballogie, Crossroads, Glass and Sandhaven nurseries would close at the end of this term.

But leader Gillian Owen said the council could potentially review its guidance so that it included a consultation process with parents.

A meeting of the full council planned for Monday is expected to be asked to approve a review.

Mothballing means closing a premises, but keeping it in a condition ready for future use.

Last month, Aberdeenshire's education committee noted a decision to mothball the nurseries.

But the Scottish government then wrote to the authority to highlight the need to consult parents in such cases.

Ms Owen said on Friday: "We acknowledge the strong feelings concerning the four settings and appreciate the concerns of parents who highly value their local early learning facilities.

"We are trying to balance the needs of children and families, with a challenging financial position - but it is critical we do this in the right way."

Ms Owen said the council's administration would recommend that planning for all future mothballing activity be paused while the guidance was examined.

She said: "Whilst we have been engaging with parents, we need to consult at a much earlier stage to inform the decision-making process, and we will explore how to integrate this into the procedure.

"We are taking the unusual step of announcing our intention prior to the meeting in the hope that we remove further anxiety for the people who have made requests to speak."

Aberdeenshire Council said its mothballing guidance had been used successfully for many years to support changes in education in response to local circumstances.