New school projects need time, money and space and it appears that Aberdeenshire Council is short on all three.
Since the education and children’s services committee voted earlier this month to pursue a new school project in Foveran rather than Balmedie, there have been questions about the project’s feasibility.
There was little excitement among local councillors when the plan was first proposed. And when it passed, it was after a brief debate and a split vote by the education committee.
In recent comments to The P&J, an Aberdeenshire Council spokesman confirmed many concerns that were brought up at previous meetings:
- The council has its sights on a few properties but hasn’t secured one.
- The current budget doesn’t yet have room for a new 300-pupil school – estimated between £20-30 million – and building in Foveran means losing millions of pounds in developer contributions.
- It’s unclear whether any purchased land will be immediately ready for construction.
- Delivering a school in Foveran could be “outwith the Council’s control”.
Project out of the Council’s hands?
According to the council’s own options appraisal, there are financial risks for the Foveran plan. First, council documents show there are approximately £4 million in developer contributions available to help fund a school in the region.
But how much the council actually receives will depend on where and when they build a school. By choosing to build in Foveran, the council expects to miss out on £2.3 million in developer obligations. Long delays to the building project could mean losing out on even more.
And council papers go on to state that developing one of the sites in Foveran could be “outwith the council’s control.”
But with the council committed to building in Foveran, there are big questions to be answered as it creates a business case for the new school.
In response to a Freedom of Information request in July 2022, the council said the five-year capital plan did not include money for a new school to support Balmedie and Foveran’s catchment areas.
When asked what the new Foveran school could cost, a council spokesman said that the council wouldn’t have a budget until it puts together a full business case for the project.
But, based on other projects and anticipated inflation, he estimated the school would cost between £20-25 million.
Where to build and when?
When asked when the council would have an estimated construction timeline, a spokesman said: “Appropriate timescales and an indicative timeline will be presented in the business case.”
The council has identified sites in Foveran that officers expect the local landowner to make available for purchase.
When asked whether construction could begin on the sites right away, the spokesman said: “The sites are considered suitable for development, however, as with any project further detailed site investigations will be undertaken in due course.”
He added that the sites have access to roads but stopped short of confirming whether they would need further infrastructure work to access utilities.
“As with any project, detailed site infrastructure assessments will be undertaken in due course,” he said.
Developing the business case will require a purchase of land. Part of that process is also expected to involve rezoning the catchment areas for Foveran and Balmedie schools.
Each of these steps adds months to the timeline.
How did we get here?
Former councillor turned community campaigner Allan Hendry raised the question about a new Balmedie School in 2008, when he still sat on the council.
He said he was promised a full report from the council looking into the viability of replacing Balmedie sometime around 2013. But he never got that report, and in the meantime, Aberdeenshire Council was offered land for free to build a school near Millden.
That offer still stands and was renewed as recently as November 2022, according to letters seen by The P&J. But the council rejected it in December. And neither the area committee nor the education committee discussed it during their recent options appraisals.
We Need to Talk About Balmedie: Where are hundreds of extra kids going to be taught?
Meanwhile, Mr Hendry has been butting heads with the council since September 2021, when he began circulating flyers outlining the situation at Balmedie School. These included capacity concerns, traffic congestion, and little time to find a solution.
Council statistics projected Balmedie to reach capacity by 2025. But at the time, the council said that they didn’t agree with Mr Hendry’s numbers. Communities weren’t growing as quickly as expected and there were no plans for a new school, they said.
Lukewarm reception for Foveran plans
But fast-forward less than one year, and councillors began seriously talking about whether to build a second school in Balmedie, a new school in Foveran, or look for some other solution.
Both schools are nearing unsustainable capacity levels and the council has made it clear that it needs to take action.
The council spokesman said it began considering Foveran as a potential solution in 2019. The clearest plans for a new Foveran school were first presented at a Formartine area committee this January. As part of that plan, both school catchment areas would need rezoning, a lengthy process that requires public consultation.
Until that January meeting, the conversation had been focussed elsewhere. Specifically: whether the council could build a new school in Balmedie or the growing Blackdog development.
No love for Blackdog
When presented with the option to replace Foveran with a new school, local councillors on the area committee were unimpressed.
They asked for more time and more options. But that attitude wasn’t reflected when the issue reached the full education and children’s services committee.
Committee chairwoman Gillian Owen made it clear that were was no time left for delaying a decision. Though admitting that the Foveran option would put a strain on council resources and its carbon footprint, she endorsed the motion.
It passed over objections from SNP members, who spoke out during and after the meeting. Councillor Louise McAllister said Blackdog made “more sense” overall.
“Whilst a new school in Foveran is welcome for the families living in the village and surrounding areas, it does not adequately deal with the forecast significant increase in pupils around the Blackdog developments, and will place more pressure on the council in the long term.”
However, education officers made it very clear that there was “no evidence to justify” building a school there. And so the Foveran plan went ahead.
Is Foveran the right call?
The decision to build in Foveran rather than Blackdog or Balmedie took many local councillors and community members by surprise.
Within hours of the announcement, members of the Balmedie and Surrounding Area Facebook group questioned whether there was space for a school in Foveran, whether the population in the area would grow enough to require it, and whether there wouldn’t soon be a need for a new school to serve the developments around Balmedie regardless.
Do you think building a new school in Foveran is the right decision?
Read more from the Schools and Family team
Inverness time capsule – what would your school put inside?
Robert Gordon’s College could make teachers redundant in savings blitz
Conversation