Campaigners launch legal challenge over new Mull school

Campaigners on the Isle of Mull have launched a legal challenge over the local authority's decision on where to build a new school.

Argyll and Bute Council decided earlier this year to build the new £43m school campus close to the current high school in Tobermory.

Many parents wanted a more central location so that pupils in the south of the island would no longer have to travel by ferry to Oban for schooling and stay in hostels during the week.

Campaigners say they felt they had "no choice" and have now hired a layer to take the case to a judicial review at the Court of Session.

A judicial review is a type of legal case where a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public authority.

A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute council said they had been made aware of the proceedings.

Tracy Mayo, chairwoman of the Mull Campus Working Group, told BBC Scotland News: "This is about all our children - it affects the whole of Mull and its future sustainability and its unique island way of life.

"When we first learnt the terms of the bid for funding in August 2024, we immediately raised our concerns the offer didn't make sense - it seemed irrational.

"How we define our community appears to differ from that of our council. We have been highlighting flaws in the process for many years as have other communities.

"Effective partnership working fosters trust and mutual trust. We have stated all the way through this we want to work with our council but not like this.

"It has taken a huge amount of work to get this far. Volunteers have lost huge swathe of family time, our families have been very patient and supportive and so has the amazing community of Mull."

The location of the island's only high school has long been a source of division on Mull.

Pupils living in the north go to the school in Tobermory, but the commute is more than 90 minutes for those living in the south, and most travel to Oban on the mainland, staying in hostels during the week.

Funding was secured in 2023 to build a "like for like" replacement school on the Isle of Mull to replace the depilated Tobermory High School, which also houses a primary and nursery school.

A number of sites where the new school could be built were identified across the island.

Campaigners argued for a split option, with a new secondary school to be built in a more central location such as Craignure, while keeping a primary school in Tobermory.

But the council said splitting the campus would cost the authority an extra £12m, and that any further delay could jeopardise promised Scottish government funding.

Ultimately councillors voted to go ahead with building the new school in the Island's main town of Tobermory, near to the existing school.

Campaigners launched a petition and held protests against the decision, and the issue has been debated at Holyrood.