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A legal challenge brought by Mull residents against Argyll and Bute Council’s plan to build a new school on the northern part of the island has been unsuccessful. The council intends to construct a £43 million campus adjacent to the current high school in Tobermory. This location has been a contentious point among islanders, as opinions differ on the best site for the new school.
The majority of parents expressed a preference for a more centrally located school, aiming to eliminate the need for students from the southern area to commute by ferry to Oban on the mainland and stay in hostels during the school week. Despite these concerns, a judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh dismissed the petition, ruling that there was “no procedural unfairness” in the council’s decision-making process.
This ruling now concludes the judicial review, a legal process that examines whether decisions or actions by public bodies comply with the law. The dispute highlights a longstanding division on Mull regarding the location of the island’s only high school. Currently, pupils in the north attend Tobermory High School, while those in the south face a daily commute exceeding 90 minutes or must reside off-island during school terms.
In 2023, funding was obtained to replace the aging Tobermory High School with a new “like-for-like” campus, which will continue to incorporate a primary and nursery school. Various potential sites across Mull were considered during the planning phase. Some campaigners advocated for a split-campus model, proposing a new secondary school in a more central location such as Craignure, with the primary school remaining in Tobermory. However, the council argued that this approach would add £12 million in costs and risk the withdrawal of crucial Scottish government funding. Moreover, it would leave Tobermory—Mull’s largest town—without a primary school. In March of the previous year, councillors voted to proceed with the construction in Tobermory, a decision which was later upheld by Lord Cubie despite acknowledging that the decision could be “challengeable.
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