Speaking in the Holyrood debate on school playing fields earlier today, Highlands MSP Jamie McGrigor paid tribute to Dalmally Community Company and to its officials, Kenny Black and John Burke.

The debate was concerned with school playing fields still being sold off for development in spite of laws intended to protect them.

Jamie McGrigor drew attention to the enduring value of the work done by Fields in Trust Scotland, which is particularly important since little central data on school playing fields is put together by the Scottish Government.

He underlined the fact that school playing fields are almost always a general community resource and then noted that: ‘the vital and valuable role that school playing fields make in providing our children with places to take part in physical activity, including competitive sport, through PE when they are at school, and through extracurricular activities outwith school time’.

He went on to say:  ‘The school in my local village in Argyll, Dalmally primary, has no playing field, but for many years it has managed wonderfully well—thanks to its staff—with a tarmac playground and a small area of grass around it.

‘It cannot use the local Dalmally shinty pitch, which is next to the livestock market, because of worries about animal manure on the field.

‘The teachers and pupils of the school are therefore hugely excited by the progress that has been made by the Dalmally Community Company, which has secured funding for stage 1 of the community hall project. I congratulate the company officials, Kenny Black and John Burke, for the staggering amount of work that they have done and the enormous amount of money that they have raised to achieve the building of what will be a community and indoor sports centre. Phase 2 is the playing field that is nicknamed locally “the field of dreams”. I hope that the field of dreams will become a reality for that village.

‘Having spoken about the progress in Dalmally, I must say that I share the concerns of communities throughout Scotland that have faced, or which currently face, the loss of school playing fields. It is a real concern that playing fields are still being lost despite SPP 11, which makes clear the exceptional circumstances that must exist before a school playing field can be sold off for development. Those sales are taking place, despite the fact that local communities such as Cuiken in Penicuik are united in their opposition to local authority plans to sell off their playing fields.

‘Given the focus of the Government—and members of all parties—on encouraging our young people to live more active lives, and on tackling the increasing problem of child obesity, Christine Grahame’s suggestion that sportscotland should become a additional mandatory consultee has great merit and should be explored.

‘Sportscotland has already done great work in that area, through the helpful document that it published in early 2007, “School Playing Fields: Planning and Design Guidance”, which recognises that there is little up-to-date design advice on school playing fields. I hope that the minister will address that issue when she sums up in tonight’s debate. Her party raised hopes in its 2007 manifesto when it promised.’