Community councillors swayed by Golspie High School bus park appeal
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The dispute over whether or not to open Golspie High School’s bus park to other vehicles appears to be at an end.
Golspie Community Council is supporting the park being retained solely for school buses following an appeal from the head teacher, parents and the bus company involved.
It had been hoped that cars and motorhomes could be allowed to use the Highland Council owned bus park, located next to the school and to the rear of Golspie Medical Practice.
The aim was to provide more parking spaces and make it easier for visitors to spend time in the village.
A compromise solution put forward was that the bus park open up only during school holidays, but this was also opposed by the school.
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Head teacher Mark Evans and parent council representatives, along with drivers from bus company Camerons of Brora, attended last month’s community council meeting to plead their case.
Afterwards community council secretary Henrietta Marriott said members had listened “very carefully” to the arguments put before them and had come down on the school’s side.
“We didn’t realise until the meeting that Golspie is the only high school in the region that does not have its own dedicated school park,” she said.
Community councillors also had not known that bus drivers were not allowed to reverse in the park, which made turning in the area difficult.
Mrs Marriott said that members had also been swayed by the fact that, should the bus park be opened up to mixed use during the day, there would be no policing of it to ensure that non-school vehicles were not present when school buses arrived or departed.
“In the light of all this information, we decided that the school’s request was reasonable and we should support it,” she said.
She added that the need for additional parking spaces in the village was not now so acute following the opening of a motorhome park at Golspie Business Park on the southern outskirts of town.
Improvements are now being planned to the bus park with drivers asked to work out a plan for a new lay-out.
The community council is also to look at options for relocating the bottle banks and recycling unit currently located in a corner of the park.
“There are a number of things that need to be done to make the bus park a safe and clear area,” said Mrs Marriott.
“The conclusions we reached were a bit of a surprise to all of us but having heard from the school and the bus company, we think it is the right way forward."
