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Decision due on Gregory's Girl school Abronhill High Gregory's Girl school Abronhill High 'to close'
(about 7 hours later)
The future of a secondary school immortalised in Bill Forsyth's film Gregory's Girl will be decided later. Abronhill High - the secondary school immortalised in Bill Forsyth's film Gregory's Girl - looks set to close.
Abronhill High School, in Cumbernauld, appeared in exterior scenes for the 1981 romantic coming-of-age comedy. Councillors in North Lanarkshire backed plans on Wednesday to close the school at the end of the 2014 academic term.
North Lanarkshire Council is proposing to close the school in a bid to save more than £1m annually. Pupils will transfer to Cumbernauld High, which will be replaced itself by a new school campus.
A decision on the plan, which has drawn significant local opposition, is due to be made at the council's learning and leisure services committee. The decision - still to be ratified by the full council - aims to address the falling school roll and realise annual savings of more than £1.3m annually.
Ministerial review The decision to close Abronhill was taken by the council's learning and leisure services committee.
Under the proposal, Abronhill would be closed with pupils transferring to Cumbernauld High, which itself may be replaced at a later date by a new build school. 'Empty spaces'
A public consultation highlighted widespread opposition among local MSPs and community groups. Convener Cllr Jim Logue said: "The fundamental reasons for making these proposals have not altered, namely - the schools are hugely under-occupied.
Paul Baird, a former pupil who is part of a campaign group to keep the school open, said the timescale of the merging of the schools came a massive shock. "Abronhill and Cumbernauld High Schools alone are sitting with a combined surplus of around 950 empty places.
He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "Abronhill High School is certainly the hub of a community, Abronhill is like a satellite of Cumbernauld, it centres around the school itself. "We need to make savings to allow a new school to be built."
"It provides amenities for after school clubs, both for children and for adults, and you also have a shopping centre in Abronhill, those shops very much rely on the business that's brought in by the pupils. Cllr Logue said the decision paved the way for a "new school and community facility to be built" that would be "fit for the modern curriculum".
"Secondly, and probably the most important point, would be the statistical performance of Abronhill High School - it regularly outperforms most schools in the North Lanarkshire area and sometimes outperforms other schools in Scotland." Under the original proposal, Abronhill would have closed this year, with pupils transferring to Cumbernauld in August.
If the council approves the closure, the decision could then be called-in and reviewed by Scottish ministers. Following a consultation, which widely opposed the closure of Abronhill, the closure has been put back to 2014.
Cllr Logue added: "Of course, we never take decisions like this lightly, and I would like to commend and thank everyone who participated in the consultation.
"We've listened to all the concerns raised and that's why we've given an extra year before the rationalisation will be implemented."
North Lanarkshire Council said that it would be investing £70m in "two state-of-the-art secondary schools will be built in Cumbernauld" - the replacement Cumbernauld High and the new Greenfaulds High School campus.
The decision to close Abronhill is expected to be ratified at a meeting of the full council at about 16:00.
'Dark Day'
It is possible, however, that Scottish ministers may decide to call in the closure plans for review due to the level of controversy in the local community.
Scott Campbell, a spokesman for the Save Abronhill High School campaign, described the decision as "a dark day".
"We are very anger that the councillors, who voted for the closure, didn't support the unprecedented response of the community's rejection of the proposals, in the council's consultation," he said.
"We have previously warned that we are the community, the majority, the voters and, ultimately, their pay masters.
"This decision will not be forgotten - it is a dark day for local democracy, Abronhill and the individual councillors who favoured Abronhill High's closure."
Jamie Hepburn, SNP MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, branded the decision to close Abronhill as "an absolute disgrace".
"North Lanarkshire Council have once again put aside the wishes of the community in order to pursue their own agenda," he said.
"They have let the people of Cumbernauld down, the very people they were elected to represent."
Many of the exterior scenes for Gregory's Girl were filmed outside Abronhill High.Many of the exterior scenes for Gregory's Girl were filmed outside Abronhill High.
The much-loved film starred John Gordon Sinclair as Gregory, Dee Hepburn as Dorothy and Clare Grogan as Susan.The much-loved film starred John Gordon Sinclair as Gregory, Dee Hepburn as Dorothy and Clare Grogan as Susan.