Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fears over lack of space for new pupils at Balmedie School

Balmedie Primary School
Balmedie Primary School

Concerns have been raised that an Aberdeenshire primary school will be unable to cope if a major housing development is brought forward.

Balmedie Primary School has already had extra classrooms added to cope with the rising school roll twice, with the most recent temporary additions approved in September.

According to the most recent census figures, the school roll is currently 427. Capacity is 469.

But with the next phase of the local development including 150 affordable homes to the south of the village, local councillor Allan Hendry has questioned where the additional children would go.

Mr Hendry, who has raised the matter with Aberdeenshire Council’s director of education, said: “Balmedie School is bursting at the seams. Two years ago they built two new classrooms at the back of it, and the headmaster and I raised concerns that the village was expanding and there would be a lot more kids.

“We said that if they built those classrooms, they would be back again for more in no time. Now we’ve got temporary units in the playground.

“There are 150 affordable homes included in the local development plan.

“This is a matter of priority and concern and worry.

“There won’t be room in Balmedie and there’s no school in Potterton or Blackdog, where are the children going to be educated?”

Banchory-based developers Bancon Homes put forward a bid for to build 1,000 homes and retail at Millden, on the site of the former East Aberdeenshire Golf Club, and offered to give the council land for a new school for free.

But due to concerns that the development would split Balmedie across the A90 Ellon to Aberdeen road, it was not included in the local development plan – despite proposals for a grade-separated junction with an underpass that will link both sides of the village being incorporated into the AWPR/dualling of the A90 Balmedie-Tipperty project.

Local landowner Colin Tawse has also set aside space for a school at his 600-home development at Blackdog, but the scheme is being phased around the Aberdeen bypass.

A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: “We are aware of the pressure on accommodate at Balmedie School and have been actively working on a number of possible solutions. This is a complex and fluid situation, therefore it is important that any final solution is both sustainable and fit for purpose.”