Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
New campus will include NHS clinic
JUDITH TONNER
The planned new primary school campus in Chryston is also now set to incorporate an NHS Lanarkshire clinic.
North Lanarkshire Council is to enter into a development agreement with the health board to combine the two facilities at a site at the area’s Lanrig Park.
The authority’s finance and resources committee, currently operating under delegated powers, approved the joint work at their latest virtual meeting.
It will now see plans for the dual facility being developed and put forward for planning approval.
A report for councillors noted: “The NHS wish to replace an existing clinic located in Chryston.
“The council is advancing plans to replace Chryston Primary with a new facility on an existing council site located off Cliffvale Road; it is proposed that the new NHS clinic will be incorporated into the school development.
“Following discussions with the NHS, it is proposed that a clinic facility of 600 square metres, or thereby, be incorporated into the design for the replacement Chryston Primary.
“The proposal is conditional upon a variety of issues that are being worked up, including but not limited to planning approval for the development and final project costs.”
North Lanarkshire Council will lead the development, with the health board funding the capital cost of its new clinic and then paying a peppercorn annual lease of £1 for the next 25 years, while the two bodies share service charges between them.
A new 14- classroom primary school is needed as the current building, at the campus shared with Chryston High and Snowdrop nursery, is too small for its rising pupil numbers following major housebuilding in the area, and has already required the addition of portable buildings to provide extra space.
Local residents staged a protest last summer at the proposed move to Lanrig Park, saying it would mean the “destruction” of the majority of the area’s remaining green space – which was described as “the heart and lungs of the village”.
Education convener Frank McNally told the Advertiser at that time: “There was a full analysis across the Chryston area, including use of the existing school site; but this was identified as the best possible solution and has been approved unanimously by the education committee.
“The new school will really be a resource for the area to benefit from – it isn’t just for young people but will be a first-class community and education resource that will support the area for many years to come.”