Alison Mackie drives her three-year-old son Cameron past Tullynessle Nursery most days.
What used to be a highlight of the tot’s day is now a sad reminder of what he’s lost, as Alison has to keep on driving past the padlocked building.
The dejected youngster even tells his mum he “wishes there was a magic key” to open the door to the place he once loved.
Alison is one of many parents hit by Aberdeenshire Council’s decision to mothball Tullynessle School and Nursery.
She has been pleading for bosses to consider reopening it once again, having been blindsided by the closure in May.
The local authority recently held a two-hour drop-in session focused on plans to permanently close the facility.
Tullynessle and Forbes Public Hall was divided with school information offered on one side and alternative nursery provision given on the other.
Council staff were on hand to answer any questions those attending had – and that list seemed to be never-ending.
While the conversations were ongoing, youngsters were running around the hall blissfully unaware that the community was fighting for their futures…
‘I’m sad, I miss the old nursery’
Letters were sent out to residents surrounding the school ahead of the consultation, however not everyone got one.
Alison Mackie was one of those who never received a notification in the post, despite the fact her son attended Tullynessle Nursery.
She eventually found out about the drop-in session through a group chat with other mums.
Like most who attended the event, Alison hopes the process will enable the school to reopen again.
“It’s a shame, I drive past the nursery every day and it’s heartbreaking that it’s there but it’s wasted,” she said with a sigh.
Her three-year-old son Cameron clearly misses the rural nursery too and gets upset when he sees the building.
“He’s a quieter, outdoor child and felt like he was at home at Tullynessle, it was a comfortable environment.
“I’ve had to move him but he doesn’t like it, he keeps saying ‘I’m sad, I miss the old nursery’.
She added: “We drive by all the time and he says, ‘oh, there’s the nursery, I wish the magic key would open the door again’.
“You try and be positive about it but it’s hard.”
Tullynessle Nursery closure ‘not sustainable for families’
Fellow mum Erica Manning slammed the way the mothballing process has been carried out by the council, branding it as “appalling”.
The closure has resulted in her driving an extra 20 minutes each way to get her son to his new nursery.
“I’ve had to cut my working hours down and they are just expecting us to roll over and not be bothered but it’s our children,” the frustrated mum stated.
Erica revealed that the family is considering buying an extra car to help with the change.
“My husband wants to help over the winter because otherwise it’s all on me and I’ll have to reduce my hours even further,” she explained.
“It’s like they are making us pick our children or our careers and that’s not fair because everyone needs to work these days with the cost of living.”
Tullynessle parents argue the nursery was ‘prospering’
Alexander Gilliland’s son Oliver attended Tullynessle for two years and his daughter Elsie was due to start there in October.
However, the family have had to find alternative provision for her 30 minutes away due to the nursery being mothballed.
Driving there and back twice a day means the family will spend two hours driving her to and from her new setting.
Alexander revealed he was also looking at having to buy an additional car to cope.
“It’s increasing our costs to an extra £5,000 a year to run another car,” he said.
“We are now looking at my wife driving to work, my mother-in-law driving my daughter and me cycling my son to school in order to make it everywhere on time.”
He added: “We appreciate the numbers in the school have gone down but the nursery is prospering.
“You look at the number of kids that were storming around here, there were enough to keep that nursery open but they aren’t counted because it’s not policy.”
Council ‘decimating rural communities’
Meanwhile, Michelle Stuart claimed Aberdeenshire Council was being “really short sighted” about the closure.
She also believes the local authority is “decimating rural communities” by closing smaller facilities.
The mum of two explained: “We are from a farming background that goes back generations, I want my kids to still have a connection to that.”
She added: “Somewhere like Tullynessle offers that because it’s more of a rural setting.
“Village nurseries and primary schools are great but equally they aren’t for everyone and we are now revoked of that choice.”
Finally, Emily Carter revealed that both she and her husband have had to “significantly” cut their working hours to adapt to the changes.
“We’ve had a decrease in earnings and increase in expenditure because of this.
“I’m in the car for about an hour and a half every morning and then again in the afternoon spending about £80 a week on fuel.”
What does Aberdeenshire Council have to say?
Aberdeenshire Council says it will take all the submitted feedback on board going forward.
A local authority spokesman said: “The pre-engagement stage is an essential part of ensuring all relevant stakeholders have the opportunity to provide input before we advance to the formal statutory consultation process.
“We will now go through the points raised at the meeting.
“Following this, two separate consultations will take place, one focused upon the primary school and the other focused upon the nursery.”
Read more
- Kids split from pals, parents cutting back on work and longer trips: Tullynessle parents on the realities of rural school closures
- ‘It’s deeply sad’: Closure of FIVE Aberdeenshire village schools agreed as ‘best for the kids’
- 33 schools across Aberdeenshire ‘half-empty’ as cash-strapped council warns of ‘tough choices ahead’
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