Asbestos delayed £9m refurb of school
Work on Alyth Primary held up by a year
Work on the refurbishment of Alyth Primary School has been delayed by almost a year following the discovery of asbestos in the old Victorian building.
The £9million project is now expected to be operational in June next year — 10 months after the original planned date of August this year.
The presence of asbestos in the building came to light at a recent meeting of Perth and Kinross Council’s school estate sub committee, held in November.
However, council officials were keen to stress that the asbestos and its removal did not pose a health and safety risk to pupils, staff or construction workers on the site.
At the school estate sub-committee meeting, elected members heard that asbestos removal work from the Victorian part of the building was completed in October and that the
project was now due to be completed in June.
Councillors were also advised that at the moment the council is unaware of how much the removal of the asbestos will cost.
The project to upgrade the Victorian building and add a new building to Alyth Primary School was approved by Perth and Kinross Council’s lifelong learning committee almost three years ago in January 2014.
A year later the proposed designs were unveiled to the community at an informal drop-in session.
Building work on the new school got underway in January this year, with the whole project – including demolition and external work – now due to be completed in October next year.
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council confirmed: “In the process of stripping out the Victorian school building asbestos debris was discovered.
“All debris was removed under the appropriate controlled procedures and consequently there was no health and safety risk to the construction workers, staff or pupils.
“The requirement for this additional work has extended the construction period to June 2017.
“As stated in the report to the school estate sub-committee on November 17, the cost implications for the overall project are still being assessed and this detail will be reported to council in due course.
“The work of the school and community activities will continue to be accommodated within the existing decant until the new and upgraded facilities are completed.”
The primary school is also set to get a new multi-use games area (MUGA).
A revised planning application has been submitted to the council for the MUGA, which would see it in a different location within the school grounds from where it had been first proposed.
The planning application also covers fencing and landscaping.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “Details of the planning application for the multi-use games area at Alyth Primary School are available from the council’s planning portal.
“A revised application has been recently submitted which has relocated the MUGA at a greater distance from neighbouring housing.”
Planning applications can be viewed online at www.pkc.gov.uk or at local libraries.
The reference number for the MUGA planning application is 16/01657/FLL.