School campus plans on council’s agenda

A £15 million plan to put two Clackmannanshire primary schools and a nursery on one site have taken a step forward.

People are now being invited to find out more about the scheme, earmarked for Abercromby Primary, at an information evening later this month.

Plans for the construction of a Tullibody South Campus, incorporating a new-build Abercromby Primary School, the nursery and a relocation and new build of St Bernadette’s RC Primary School in the grounds of Abercromby PS, were on the agenda at Clackmannanshire Council’s meeting last week.

Advanced works and the erection of temporary accommodation were approved.

Councillors also agreed the outline design for the new campus building and were informed of the appointment of Hub East Central Scotland (Amber Blue) to develop a design and build project for the campus and a design team.

A series of workshops have been held with staff from Abercromby Primary, St Bernadette’s Primary and Abercromby Nursery. Meetings have also been held with both Abercromby and St Bernadette’s parent-council groups and Tullibody Community Council.

Two meetings of a stakeholders’ groups have taken place, incorporating school representatives plus representatives from the Tullibody community and the Catholic Church.

Visits to other shared campuses in Fife and Stirling have been undertaken and future visits are planned to Dundee and Perth and Kinross. This was said to have given an opportunity for questions to be answered and ideas to be added to the design brief.

The proposed design was said to reflect the fact that St Bernadette’s RC PS, Abercromby PS and the nursery will continue to exist as separate entities within the campus, each having their own staff, management teams, budgets, ethos and visions. They will share facilities such as outdoor learning space, toilets, meeting rooms, games hall and dining facilities.

The shared campus will include meeting rooms, a library, IT facilities and sports facilities which will be available for community use.

As part of the pre-planning application, the views of all stakeholders regarding the design and configuration for this development will be sought.

In order to give the community an opportunity to view the plans and find out more about the traffic management plans and the school travel plan there will be an information evening in Abercromby Primary School on Thursday September 14 from 3.30pm to 7.30pm.

A full planning application will be submitted later in the year and considered by the council’s planning committee. If planning permission is granted work on site should begin in April 2018, and the school ready to be occupied in August 2019.

Education spokesperson Councillor Graham Lindsay said: “I am delighted to see these outlines designs being agreed which represent a £15 million investment in the future of education in Tullibody.

“The need for this new campus is absolutely clear and we owe it to the children in the community to move this project forward. The construction of a new Abercromby Primary, Abercromby Nursery and a new St Bernadette’s RC Primary within the grounds of Abercromby Primary was the overwhelming choice of the local community in the public consultation.

“I would like to emphasise that we will continue to provide opportunities for these communities to give their views and engage with the design process and I encourage all interested parties to go along to the forthcoming information evening.”