Council are looking into issues with stairs

Works are continuing at Balfron High School after ‘ suspicious wall movement’ was discovered within the building.

Earlier this week, the Observer reported that a stairwell at the school has been closed off after safety checks were made.

Earlier this month, 17 schools in Edinburgh w e re closed after checks found safety concerns at all of the buildings.

The schools were built by Miller Construction around 10 years ago as part of a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Following the collapse of a wall at Oxgangs Primary, Edinburgh, following a heavy storm in January, it was found that fixtures called header ties, which bind the top of brick walls to a building’s main structural wall, were missing at several schools in the capital.

Investigations were later carried out at all of Stirling’s schools and no issues were reported at those built by the council or under the PPP contract with Stirling Gateway.

However, two issues were discovered at Balfron, which is under t h e own e r s h i p of Balfron Schools Ltd and was built at a cost of £ 18 million under a separate PFI agreement in 2001.

Independent contractors found that there had been what has been described as “suspicious wall movement” at a stairwell and a minor issue had been found at a wall at the small gym hall.

And investigations into a wall which collapsed during St o rm Ger t rude in January have shown that wall ties had not been installed.

Further checks were then carried out at all other walls, and no other problems have been found.

The council have said that this was an isolated case.

Yesterday ( Thursday) Stirling Council said t h a t wo r k at the stairwell was continuing, and work at the gym had been completed.

A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “Recent precautionary checks at Ba l f ron High brought to light two minor issues related to walls in a stairwell and the school’s small gym.

“Parents were notified of this.

“These are issues that would be expected to arise within a building that is now 15 years old and were nothing to do with building quality or practices.”

Forth and Endrick SNP Councillor, Ian Muirhead said: “The situation at Bal f ron High School is extremely worrying and I wi l l be staying in touch with relevant council officers to ensure that everything is being done to safeguard the safety of pupils and staff alike.”