SCOTLAND : NOT IN MY BACK YARD

Council urged to throw out plan for 'brat camp' in glen

PLANS to turn Highland holiday lodges into Scotland's first dedicated "brat camp" school for troubled youngsters have sparked a storm of protest in a Speyside glen. The Wild2Learn project in Glenlivet in Moray would cater primarily for teenage troublemakers and problem children from the area.

But despite the fact the school would be sited only 28 miles from Elgin - scene of a series of major confrontations between gangs in recent months - Moray Council planning officials are recommending that the project should be rejected at today's meeting of the environmental services committee. The council has received almost 30 letters of objection, mainly from residents of Glenlivet. They have raised concerns for the safety and wellbeing of the community and voiced fears about the threat posed by students absconding.

Grampian Police, who have not formally objected to the development, have also warned of the potentially serious consequences of children running away from the remote facility during winter months. But last night, the company behind the scheme defended what it hailed as a "new concept in education". New Education Developments has applied to convert the Glenlivet Holiday Lodges complex and Poachers Retreat pub into a residential school for problem children aged between 12 and 16.

Gary Johnson, the chief executive, said: "There is no other facility like this in Scotland. "Wild2Learn is a system of practical learning experience and behavioural therapies. "A lot of people might be familiar with the wilderness therapy aspect of the programme that has been seen on Channel Four's Brat Camp. We use the outdoors to help young people develop self-confidence and self-awareness and some of the skills that will help them deal with the behaviours that have got them into trouble. He said the aim was to resolve these issues so that the youngsters would be able to make a "contribution to society, instead of being a drain on it". He stressed: We don't subscribe to formal classroom education because it hasn't worked for them." He said profits would be channelled back into making the programme sustainable. We are also going to create between 35 and 60 jobs in the first year and up to 100 jobs in our second year. Mr Johnson hoped the council would "see through the ridiculous recommendation that has been made".

But Beverly Smith, the council planning officer, states in her report that the application should be refused, as it "would have an adverse effect on the current level of amenity enjoyed by residents within the area, due to the perceived increased fear of crime". She warned that these feelings would be exacerbated by the remoteness of the site and lack of police presence.

Frank Urquhart
25 October 2006

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1579102006

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