Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dalneigh Primary: Parent campaigners hand in petition against proposed development

More than 100 parents have signed a petition against development near the school grounds. Picture: Family West - Mum Sam, son Kotori 7 and Aryanna 9 are pictured outside of the school. Pictures by JASON HEDGES

Parents and pupils protesting a potential threat to the green space outside an Inverness school have put their fears in writing.

Dalneigh Primary School parent Sam West has handed Highland Council a petition with 139 signatures.

Featuring comments like ‘stupid idea’ and ‘not enough green space’, the petition asks council to abandon proposals to allow residential building near the city school.

The council had identified the school grounds as a potential area to develop housing, as part of its Inner Moray Firth Development Plan.

The idea was met with widespread opposition from the community.

Some parents held a demonstration on school grounds last month, begging “‘Do not brick us in”.

Flat no from Dalneigh

“Whoever came up with this idea, it makes me laugh,” says Mrs West. “The whole thing doesn’t make sense. This is a small school with a small green area as it is.”

The 139 people signing the petition agree. One parent commented: “Kids need green space to play. They need to run around.”

Another wrote: “Not enough space already – terrible idea!”

The majority of people simply wrote “no”.

Councillor Janet Campbell, who represents the Inverness Central ward, agrees with the parents. “There’s no doubt these proposals are fervently opposed by the Dalneigh head teacher, community council, local members and parents,” says Mrs Campbell.

“Now more than ever, we understand that green space is crucial to the education and emotional wellbeing of our children, particularly at primary school age.”

Janet Campbell comments on Dalneigh school petition
Councillor Janet Campbell says local members do not support plans for housing development on Dalneigh school grounds.<br />Pictures by JASON HEDGES

‘It doesn’t make any sense’

Mrs West says she is not against more housing at Dalneigh, and she would welcome the expansion of the school. However, any development must be in the right place.

“We want people to move here, and we want the school to have more classrooms if they’re needed, but it has to be done in a way that benefits the school,” she says. “There are other earmarked sites nearby that are more appropriate for development. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Highland Council planners say that even if planning permission is granted, the playground would only be reduced in size and not removed altogether.

They add that a consultation into the Inner Moray Firth Development Plan this spring received no objections relating to the school.

However, Dalneigh parents say they only heard about the proposal on a community Facebook page.

What happens next?

Inverness area committee will discuss the proposals at its meeting on November 18.

A council spokesperson said: “The decision on which sites are to be allocated in the proposed plan will rest with the councillors on the day of the committee.

“Following committee, the proposed plan will be issued for public consultation. This consultation will be on the content of the entire plan for the wider Inner Moray Firth area.”

Dalneigh primary school
Protestors are battling to protect green space at Dalneigh Primary School.<br />Picture by Gordon Lennox

The Scottish Government will examine the public comments and the council’s response before the end of 2022.

Commenting on the petition, Mrs Campbell said: “I acknowledge the sterling efforts made by Sam West as a community activist and parent of young children in Dalneigh Primary School. Her petition reflects local views which will be considered at the Inverness committee meeting next month.”

Mrs West is optimistic that the council will listen to parents’ views, but she’s not resting on her laurels. “I’m prepared to keep fighting this into the future. The petition shows that the whole community doesn’t want this.”

More from the Schools and Family team

‘Do not brick us in!’: parents angry over potential for housing near school grounds

“Paige’s memory will live on” with memorial path at Miller Academy Primary School

What can Scottish schools learn from Singapore?