Primary school in a flutter over 'farcical' flagpole ban

Published on Friday 29 January 2010 21:57

A PRIMARY school has been unable to display a hard-earned eco award outside its building because of health and safety fears.

Craigroyston Primary in Edinburgh won a Green Flag award for showing lasting commitment to environmental issues.

The school could not afford to spend more than 2,000 installing a flagpole and had to hang the flag on a wall instead.

But when a generous contractor offered free poles left from another job, the city council put a stop to works until they carried out "checks" on the pole.

Now the policy has been attacked as "a complete farce".

As Craigroyston was built as part of a Public Private Partnership, it needs permission from the maintenance firm Amey for any alterations, and has to use a contractor approved by Amey.

The school was quoted 2,100 for the job, much more than its budget will allow. But an offer from builder Laing O'Rourke to install the poles for free fell foul of health and safety rules.

Local councillor Cammy Day said:

"These parents and kids worked a long time to get this award and the council is letting them down.

"This is an example of more avoidable delays from the council, and it's a complete farce."

A council spokeswoman said: "The council welcomes sponsorship to our schools. However, these flagpoles are not new and we have to carry out some checks."