Long-awaited plans for a new school in a north-east town took a step forward yesterday as councillors agreed on the perfect spot for the building.
Aberdeenshire councillors named Kinmundy as the preferred location for the new Peterhead Community Campus.
Following speeches from two Peterhead representatives, all members agreed unanimously.
Peterhead South councillor, Alan Fakley, was welcomed the progress and urged the authority to proceed onto the next stage of the development.
He said: “It’s very important we do get our ducks in a row, as we don’t want big holes in the town as this work carried on.
“The masterplan makes sure everything is in order before we lay the cornerstone on the campus.
“Peterhead is on the up at the moment with new businesses, investment and the huge port.
“If you want our next generation of teachers, doctors, nurses and engineers to be from Peterhead please get on with it and build this campus.”
His fellow ward member, Stephen Calder, mentioned the potential for the eventual “campus” to be scattered across Peterhead and asked that consideration be given to locating some buildings in the town centre.
He said: “The objective here is to meet the needs of the pupils and the community.
“The overall community campus could potentially be in separate sites across the town.
“Our first priority is a modern, purpose-built 1,400 capacity academy.
“But I think there’s a strong desire for the community facilities to be kept in the town centre.
“I look forward to the Buchan Area Committee receiving a full impact assessment on the affects to the town centre and on disadvantaged sections of our community – so that we can mitigate any negative impacts.
“Any development must take into account the vitality of the town centre as the cultural heart of the town, and ensure the more deprived sections of the community are not further disadvantaged.”
In previous meetings, £71 million was allocated to the project from the council’s capital plan.
The campus will ultimately offer space for 1,400 secondary school pupils, 900 primary children, 70 youngsters with additional needs and 120 nursery children.
It has been recognised that the funding will not stretch to cover the whole project, but will be used to finance the first stage – the secondary school.
The report had been put forward after “extensive consultation” which found that pupils, teachers and the public all preferred the Kinmundy site.
