Perth and Kinross councillors have agreed a £5.2 million commitment for the extension at Dundee’s Harris Academy to proceed.
It means Invergowrie secondary-aged pupils can continue to be taught two miles away in Dundee rather than being bussed 22 miles to Perth High School.
Costs for the project – which is expected to be signed off by both councils in December 2022 – are estimated to have spiralled by a further £1 million.
Efforts to ‘minimise costs’
Councillors on Perth and Kinross Council’s finance and resources committee agreed to increase the budget for the Dundee City Council school’s extension project from £4.2 million to £5.2 million.
They have drawn from PKC’s additional borrowing capacity built into its approved capital funding strategy.
The decision comes after the completion of an extension to the academy was pushed back to 2024 after construction issues.
Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Barrett sought assurance “all efforts are being made to minimise these costs” and there was “full transparency on the costs available to the council”.
PKC’s head of Business and Resources Greg Borland said: “We have a joint project board with Dundee City Council. All information is scrutinised by head of property [services] Stephen Crawford.”
Financial hopes
The committee’s convener SNP Strathearn councillor Stewart Donaldson said: “I welcome that we expect to achieve financial closure on Harris Academy very soon indeed.”
Learning and families convener John Rebbeck said: “I don’t think we want to be explaining to parents in Invergowrie why we’re bussing their kids all the way up to the [Perth] High School when there was another option available.”
The 640m² extension at the rear (south side) will provide five additional classrooms, a drama studio, offices, a plant room and a break-out space.
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