If a tree falls in a forest, does it still make a noise if it’s a Highland Council official wielding the axe?
I pose this philosophical conundrum as members of Edderton Community Council were made aware that said axe has, in fact, fallen upon our little primary school with little in the way of sound whatsoever.
We were aware that this was a possibility – less an axe than a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads – but we had taken measures to try and recruit new pupils to aid our ailing roll.
Instead, even though the recruitment window for new pupils had until the end of February to run, emails were dispatched confirming, “that Edderton Primary will be mothballed with effect from the end of the current session on 3 July 2025.”
Were our elected Councillors made aware of this decision? No.
Were members of the Community Council made aware? Again, no.
Does this make the members of the Community Council feel as though they have been railroaded by a decision which was a foregone conclusion? Oh very much yes.
And this matters.
It matters because it is shortsighted. If the Cromarty Green Freeport really is going to provide 10,000 jobs then at least some of those people will need houses and schools for their children.
But it also matters because it matters. The school has served the village for generations.
By mothballing it – or death delayed – the council condemns the village to death likewise.
We were already on life support: no pub, no shop, no bank: our post service reduced from a man working from the back of a van to nothing.
And yet this is a great place to live. It is beautiful but it is also kind and welcoming. It is a well run, humane place with a proud history and a supportive atmosphere which produces great people and which could continue to do so again.
We know that Highland Council has been employing Depopulation Officers – we had just hoped that they were supposed to be stopping depopulation not employing Orwellian language to ensure it.
We desperately hoped that Edderton could escape the clutches of barbarians at the gates, this time brandishing spreadsheets rather than swords.
Despite assurances to both of us – as a community council and to our councillor – that we would be informed of the final axe wound, this was not the case. We found out because we were shown copies of emails distributed to other stakeholders.
This is both a flagrant disregard of the democratic process and an indication that our consultation process was not being conducted in good faith.
As news reaches us that Duror Primary School is to be saved and escape the fate which is to befall Edderton, we have to ask why we are regarded as a second class location so ripe for felling?
Gordon Allison
Chair, Edderton Community Council
for, and on behalf of, Edderton Community Council
