Lossiemouth residents once again face the prospect of losing the town’s most popular swimming pool amid fresh fears over the soaring construction costs of its replacement.
Plans to create a new high school in the town have been plunged into disarray amid concerns about the ever-increasing price of siting it on marshy ground beside the current building.
As well as space for 800 pupils, the £36million venue is intended to feature a swimming pool, community facilities and a library which will be available to the youngsters and residents.
They are supposed to replace the well-used equivalents included in the present building.
But councillors will meet tomorrow to discuss a “worrying” report that documents the ongoing struggles involved with getting the building up and running.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the scheme was £700,000 over budget and officers now say it has reached the point where it is no longer affordable in its current form.
The new report states: “This project is behind programme due to the results of the ground conditions.
“This has shown that the whole area is poor for development, and requires substantial engineering works.
“As a consequence, the proposed cost of the project is above the affordability cap.”
The report adds that developers have been tasked with finding “alternative approaches” that could reduce costs.
Council leader George Alexander last night admitted that the update was one which would pose members of the sustainable education sub-committee some challenges.
The former Forres Academy teacher said: “This is worrying, you never know what you will find when you start digging into the ground.”
Mr Alexander was one of several elected members who voted in favour of removing the swimming pool from plans for the school in March, when fears about spiraling costs first arose.
When asked if that possibility could now come to fruition, the council boss said only that he would “not rule anything out”.
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead previously battled on behalf of Lossiemouth residents to ensure the pool remained in the plan.
Last night he said: “I have no doubt that the local community will want to see the integrity of the project protected during any review of the costs, especially the inclusion of facilities such as the swimming pool.”
