The historic former village school in Kilcreggan is still standing empty and has not been sold – nearly three years after negotiations were said to be ‘ongoing’.
Built in 1865 and a grade-C listed building, the old school was run by the community as the Rainbow Centre in the 1990s but handed back to Argyll and Bute Council in 2010 by the local management committee.
The council’s website still shows it for sale at offers over £95,000, with a closing date of December 2012 – at the time a council spokesperson said negotiations with a buyer were continuing.
Nearly three years later, and with the council planning unprecedented £18m cuts in vital services, it is still unsold, with a spokesperson saying this week that for legal reasons only a brief comment was possible: “The council have received an offer for this property and it is hoped that settlement will be reached in the very near future.”
In 2013 a proposal to alter the building and change its use to form three houses, demolishing a plant room, was approved by the council.
The community centre was closed down by the then Dumbarton District Council in the 1990s, with local volunteers stepping in to run it.
But with costs mounting, and the directors of Cove Burgh Hall – also taken over by the community when facing council closure – reluctant to take the gamble of running both buildings, it was decided to close the doors of the School Road building, which had been used by groups including a karate club and playgroup.
As a resident who stays right in opposite of this building, I find it sometimes very hard to look through my living-room window at a house which is almost overgrown by weeds and shrubs. The sign which says ‘For sale’ can hardly be seen because of this ‘jungle’ and after 7 years I’ ve given up the hope to see any changes to happen on the other side of the road in the near future.
Agreed – I am sure that if the council hadn’t got involved the community would have dealt with this years ago. Scandalous
There is a number of areas in and around C&K suffering from the same neclect by ABC.