CROMBIE Residents’ Association have lodged a formal complaint over Fife Council’s “manipulation” to “bulldoze” through the closure of the village’s primary school.

In February, councillors ignored local campaigners and voted to close five schools in the Kingdom this summer.

Crombie Primary was granted a temporary stay of execution because the original plan for pupils to be rezoned to Cairneyhill Primary School has been changed to Limekilns.

A new consultation process is under way but a complaint has now been made to Education Secretary Mike Russell accusing the council of “twisting the law”.

CRA chair Tony Orton warned the village would “play hardball” in fighting the closure.

He said, “Everything is just being bulldozed through and the feeling is that we’re being completely messed about.

“On 19th February, there was an Act of Parliament passed called the Children and Young People Bill, in which there were amendments to the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

“The one thing in there that would help us is that if one proposal isn’t implemented, there has to be a five-year gap before another attempt is made.

“Fife Council are trying to say they withdrew the first proposal thereby it has no legal effect, and this is a brand-new proposal because it’s a new rezoning.

“That’s a manipulation of the law because any council could then put in a proposal, withdraw it, have a consultation until they get the result they want.

“The Act doesn’t come into law until it receives royal assent and in my opinion they’re determined to bulldoze it through before that and the assumption that it can’t be backdate-able.” The letter also alleges education officers made it difficult to obtain information, backpedalled on rezoning to Limekilns and ignored the HMIE report about the consultation process.

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Annabelle Ewing has backed the complaint, calling the council’s attitude “appalling”.

She said, “The consultation process ... has somehow been magically rolled over to cover Fife Council’s new proposal that Crombie be closed and rezoned to Limekilns.

“This, despite the fact that they, themselves, originally said that this option was not viable.

“This is an utterly ridiculous situation and there has been a clear failure on the part of Fife Council to follow the rules regarding rural schools closures.” Shelagh McLean, council education directorate resources manager, explained, “We were aware there were links between the school communities of Limekilns and Crombie but, based on current policy, didn’t feel Limekilns had enough room to accommodate changes in nursery provision if more pupils joined the school.

“This remains an issue which will need to be addressed.

“However, it was made clear during the consultation that parents, staff and the local community favoured a rezoning to Limekilns.

“In light of this, the executive committee agreed that the initial proposal should not be progressed further but did give approval to proceed with a new consultation on the closure of Crombie Primary School and the rezoning of the catchment area of Limekilns Primary School, to incorporate the existing Crombie Primary School catchment area with effect from December 2014.

“The Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Government in February 2014.

“This will introduce a number of amendments to the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. The new Bill is not yet in force and as well as altering our proposals in response to consultation feedback Fife Council is acting fully in accordance with the current legislation.”