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.

Demands for a rethink on future of Nairn Academy

Nairn Academy
Nairn Academy

A Highland councillor made an impassioned plea for cash to prepare a plan for a new high school in her town.

The 40-year-old Nairn Academy building was described by Councillor Liz MacDonald as “not fit for purpose” as it is asbestos ridden, with leaks that have buckets under them for 40 years – and areas that are often closed off due to faulty windows.

At a meeting this week, Liz MacDonald made a plea for cash to find a way forward for the school and its 800 pupils.

Speaking at the local authority’s environment, development and infrastructure committee, Councillor MacDonald said that vital repair works had been set aside – yet there is no plan to rebuild the school.

Highland Councillor Liz MacDonald.

Mrs MacDonald wanted the council to agree to having exploratory works for the new school funded. She claimed an under spend in the council’s budget should go to preparing a report on the school.

She said: “As anyone will tell you, it is a poor building with asbestos. A programme of works that was agreed for the school has now drawn to a halt. We need a business case in place to move this project forward.”

Agreeing that a project has to be developed, Councillor Tom Heggie, a former maths teacher at the school, said: “What we need is a shovel-ready project for the next round of funding from the Scottish Government.
“While the school pupils continue to perform to an exceptionally high level – the building they are in falls far below anyone’s aspirations.

“There was a report into the condition of the academy 12 years ago – and at that time it was graded as category C – it hasn’t improved and is now a category D.

“Nothing has been done about this, and there is no project ready to go. We need to get that in place.

“We think the new school could be built in the grounds of the current school – but we really need to have an assessment made of the site as soon as possible to be able to tell people what we are doing. It can not go on much longer.”

Addressing concerns a Highland Council spokesman said: “We have a condition survey that has been undertaken at the school. Until we know the long term future of the school a balance has to be struck in the spending.”