Aberdeen’s former depute lord provost has made a last-ditch attempt to save a nursery revamp from being canned – insisting people without kids should not make decisions on education.
Jennifer Stewart also suggested abandoning the project at St Joseph’s Nursery, which is attached to the Roman Catholic primary school of the same name, could risk inflaming sectarianism in the city.
The local authority’s finance committee will debate the future of the nursery tomorrow.
Mrs Stewart lodged a motion at this year’s budget asking officers to explore if the existing building could be refurbished instead of building a new one.
She believes serious work is necessary for St Joseph’s to be able to offer full nursery provision.
That would mean children would not have to move to a different place after morning classes, causing a serious hassle for parents and carers.
During her time as depute lord provost, the independent councillor managed to get £3million allocated to the effort in March’s budget.
But as part of their review into major city projects, Aberdeen council officers have said there is “no identified need to proceed” with the St Joseph’s revamp due to the “surplus” of nursery provision in the local area, and recommended it is dropped.
‘Payback’ for leaving Lib Dems
Mrs Stewart suggested the SNP and Lib Dem administration were taking aim at her personally, claiming: “It’s payback time, because I left the Lib Dems [in 2017]. I know that.
“They’ve got the numbers, they’re running the council. I get that, I accept that.
“But to do what they’re about to do, to attack me – well, that’s par for the course – but to attack all the children in the West End, and all the families that attend there because they’re choosing not to invest in St Joseph’s?
“Absolutely shameful.”
Claiming the officers had been “led by the administration” in their recommendation, she added: “Yes, we need to balance the books, but why is it that one particular section of children need to be penalised?”
The Hazlehead, Queen’s Cross and Countesswells councillor said she did not like the idea of non-parents making such choices about schools and nurseries.
“I’m saying this as a mother-of-three and to be a grandmother, I’m fed up of people making decisions about education when they don’t even have kids themselves,” she said.
“People choose that, that’s fine, but the best educators and the best people to look after children are parents.
“They should have a voice, and their voice is being removed. I feel very, very strongly about that.”
St Joseph’s among projects under threat
St Joseph’s is one of several major council projects in Aberdeen that could either be axed or seriously delayed as part of an effort by the new administration to balance the books.
Work on building hundreds of new council houses could be put on hold following tomorrow’s finance committee meeting, along with the construction of the new Tillydrone Primary School.
But Mrs Stewart said the Catholic church is particularly worried about the impact of cancelling work on the nursery.
While it is non-denominational, most of the children who attend go on to St Joseph’s RC Primary.
She said: “We’ve never had any form of sectarianism in Aberdeen, and having gone and studied in the west, where I did my degree, and you didn’t say you were a Catholic – to come up to Aberdeen is great, because you could go into church and it was fine.
“But I do feel they’re going to open the doors to something else.
“Others will say that too. Because it does feel like it’s an attack on the church.”
‘Baseless accusations’
SNP councillor Alex McLellan, convener of the finance committee, said: “I am incredibly disappointed by Councillor Stewart’s latest comments.
“Sadly we have come to expect these types of baseless accusations from her.
“I have every confidence that council staff have prepared these reports, and recommendations, with their usual high level of professionalism.
“Any suggestion otherwise is simply outrageous.”
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