Following a landmark legal case brought
about by parent Bob Bowie (33), East
Renfrewshire council must now enrol
pupils from new housing developments
built on the border between its
constituency and Glasgow into St Ninian's.

Court of Session presiding judge, Lord
Uist said ERCs consultation exercise into
the school's entry was worthless and based
on a false premise.

In a written ruling yesterday he said: "It
seems to me that East Renfrewshire
council has sought to give a far-fetched
and strained meaning to that term
(delineated area) by contending that it
denotes a list of streets".

And he added he would have thought
the meaning of "delineated area was selfevident".

Father-of-two Mr Bowie, of Parklands
Meadow, raised the action for a judicial
review after receiving a letter from ERC
that refused his daughter Blaire (11) a
place at St Ninian's.

ERC argued although his street was in
the vicinity, it was not on a specific list of
streets that granted pupils the right to
attend St Ninian's.

The Eastwood park
school is already over its planned capacity
of 1,704 despite a recent extension, with
1,786 pupils on its roll.

Most of Blaire's schoolmates from St
Angela's primary in Darnley go to St
Ninian's, even though the primary is
administered Glasgow, through a deal
brokered when Glasgow City council
succeeded Strathclyde region in 1996.

Then, the two authorities agreed pupils
from St Angela's, and the recently closed
St Louise's in Arden, could go to St
Ninian's.

Last October, East Ren began
consultation as part of a process to remove
the area associated with St Angela's from
the automatic catchment area for St
Ninian's. Lord Uist's decision forces ERC
to abandon this.

How to respond to that legal order will
now be discussed at an emergency
meeting, expected to be held on Monday,
by the education committee.

Last night an ERC spokesman told The
Extra: "We have received the judgment
and are considering it".