Plans to re-open a mothballed Aberdeen primary school have been abandoned due to concerns over the mounting cost of repairing its deteriorating structure.
A number of pupils at the overcrowded Airyhall Primary were to have been relocated to the old Braeside school as they await construction of new schools at Countesswells.
That plan has been two years in the making but has now been discarded after it emerged reopening Braeside could cost a prohibitive £422,000.
Opposition councillors have claimed parts of the building are “literally being propped up with pieces of wood”.
Now Hazlewood School – recently declared “surplus to requirements” – will instead be brought back into use.
The council believes that is now the most attractive option, though one ward councillor has warned staying at the former additional support needs school would be “undesirable” in the long term.
Braeside was last open in 2014 for pupils from the failed Hamilton School but it was closed again by the end of the summer.
Letters have now been sent to parents and carers to inform them the initial plan has been abandoned after “concerns were raised about the cost of implementing repairs”.
A report to councillors on next week’s capital programme committee recommends that Hazlewood, which has only been closed for a year, can be brought back into use for £180,000 less.
It should also be cheaper year-on-year.
The council’s education convener John Wheeler said: “I had looked at the plan with officers because I thought the costs were becoming excessive so I asked them to go look for the best value options.”
Officers have also stressed the two buildings are “approximately the same distance” from the Countesswells site.
A planning condition requires the building of a new school at Countesswells as the local population continues to grow.
A number of parents have already indicated they would want their pupils to take up places once it is constructed – though it remains in the planning stages.
With the option of decanting those pupils to Braehead now discounted, the council will need to tear the wooden boarding from Hazlewood and begin preparing it for pupils once more.
Liberal Democrat education spokesman and ward councillor, Martin Greig, said significant questions needed to be answered ahead of any move.
“Reopening a school is a major operation and we need reassurances that the Hazlewood building is in good condition and is suitable for the needs of pupils,” he said.
“There is the potential risk that the new schools do not get built at Countesswells. In that case it would be undesirable for pupils to be housed indefinitely at Hazlewood.
“We deserve to know how Braeside school building was allowed to deteriorate so seriously.”
Fellow ward councillor John Cooke highlighted the SNP’s longstanding concerns over the suitability of Braeside, now apparently borne out.
He said: “We have persistently raised concerns regarding the viability of Braeside School since it was first proposed a number of years ago.
“Throughout that period the administration ignored his calls and instead stuck their fingers in their ears, declaring that it would all be fine, despite parts of the school literally being propped up with pieces of wood.”
