The Royal High Primary School in Edinburgh’s Northfield Mountcastle neighbourhood has been the target of vandal attacks for more than a year now.
The children’s garden has been burnt down and ripped apart by vandals over the summer, and parent Kelly Beattie is becoming frustrated with the situation.
After seeking help from Edinburgh City Council, she said: “Morrison’s gifted [Royal High Primary] a piece of land behind the school which was made into a vegetable garden. Over the summer, all of the raised garden beds were burnt down and there’s broken glass everywhere.
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“The council have said there’s no budget. They’re not doing anything. I was told that more than 50 windows have been smashed into classrooms over the last school year. That’s where children play, learn and eat their lunch. The janitors and staff do the best they can to clean up the broken glass, but you can never be sure they got it all.”
Most recently, Beattie said the vandals have managed to pull the fence out of the concrete. Recently installed benches were burnt down as well.
Beattie has two children, five and seven, attending Royal High Primary. Her primary concern is keeping their school safe and secure.
“It’s as simple as this: we just want to replace the fence and maybe install CCTV to make the garden safe and secure for our children so they can actually use it. We’ve not found any needles [in the garden] yet, but with the way it’s going it’s only a matter of time.”
Last year after Morrison’s gifted the land to the school, Beattie was among the first to volunteer to help revitalise the long neglected and overgrown land. She had been organising volunteers to clear the lot. She also coordinated and secured material donations from local businesses to rebuild the garden beds and fence.
“I’m really frustrated because we were gifted materials up to the value of £3,000 to make this space safe and secure for children again and the council have told us not to bother. It’s been frustrating having to go back to all of the companies and people who gifted these things to us and say ‘actually never mind.’”
The issues have been reported to Police. However, by the time the damage is noticed and reported, Beattie said the guilty parties are long gone.
“I know other schools in the area are struggling with the same issues and vandalism is a problem here. However, it’s a really nice area with a massive community feeling. We just want to make this garden a safe space for our children and their classrooms.”
A Council spokesperson said: “It’s really upsetting for the pupils and staff to see these mindless acts of vandalism at the school. We would urge anyone in the local community who knows who may be responsible to contact police. We are putting in place temporary fencing and looking at enhanced security measures including CCTV and lighting.”
The Council could not provide more information about the cost of damages and repairs at Royal High Primary School - including the total number or cost of broken windows. The Council did not release details about its initial response to the school or community.
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