£180 million building programme for eight new schools is back on track
The city’s £180 million building programme for eight new schools is back on track.
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Excellent progress has been made in the past four months. Roy Jobson, director of Children and Families, said: “After a lot of hard work, we are now heading quickly in the right direction with what we and the schools wanted – high-quality, affordable designs.”
Schools in the PPP2 programme are: - Bonaly Primary
- Juniper Green Primary
- Forrester High
- Holy Rood High
- Broughton High
- St Augustine’s High
- Craigroyston Community High
- Tynecastle High
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Councillors had a preview of plans before their January meeting then had an opportunity to quiz architects on the proposals. There are still some issues to settle, but the bidders, Axiom Education, can now be named as the ‘preferred tender’ as soon as these are agreed.
This is a big milestone for the project since it marks a point where designs can now become more widely available.
Parents, neighbours and other interested groups had their first chance to see plans and comment when schools invited them to meetings after the February holiday.
Reports from schools suggest that they welcome the high standard of the designs.
Allan Clapperton, Forrester High’s head teacher, said: “Pupils, parents and staff are both delighted and excited by the positive news about plans to build a new Forrester.
“The Council team has done an outstanding job steering us to a position where the whole project can go ahead. The consultation process was first class and I’m sure all eight schools can look forward to buildings and facilities that will rank among the best in the country.”
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These are to be your schools, in your communities, so we will not settle for anything less than a ‘very good’ design, even where site constraints are tight.
Local people can expect planning applications to be lodged soon, with opportunities to have their comments considered.
Increasingly aware of the environmental impact of design, our plans include biomass heating, a very high degree of natural ventilation and sustainable urban drainage systems. Discussions about rainwater harvesting and wind turbines are also taking place.
Contract talks are now moving into the more advanced stages to agree management issues and finalise costs. Our aim is to close a deal by the end of May 2006, with work starting on some sites soon after.
- For more information, call 0131 469 3111.