Tri-council school plan could be revisited

Councillors have said they will leave the door open to the possibility of creating a tri-council school.

Those sitting on Perth and Kinross Council’s lifelong learning committee were asked on Wednesday to scrap plans to look at creating a new school campus that would be jointly operated by PKC, Dundee City Council and Angus Council.

This was because Angus Council said it would be pulling out of the proposal, leading to Dundee City Council saying it couldn’t work without all three councils on board.

The option being explored would have seen plans for a school offering pre-school right through to high school level, potentially built on Dundee’s Western Gateway.

It was expected children living in the Carse of Gowrie would have eventually gone to this school.

However, Cllr John Rebbeck didn’t want to see the plans thrown in the bin just yet, saying there was still an appetite for the plan. He said:“Right up until the last minute I was debating whether to propose an amendment or not.

“I want to make it very clear we don’t for a second doubt the genuine work that has gone on this.

“There is still a political appetite to move it forward, so we ask officers to try one last time.

“We request to continue working with partners and government for a secondary only school consultation with the original ambitions of working with Dundee and potentially Angus as well.”

This was seconded by Carse of Gowrie councillor Beth Pover, who said:“I support this because children in Invergowrie and Longforgan have to travel significant distances to get to school.”

Two recesses were held to discuss the proposal.

It was then decided although the plans were not going ahead, Perth and Kinross Council want to make it clear they are open to working collaboratively with both Dundee City Council and Angus Council in the future.