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Western Gateway residents say Dundee council underestimated demand for new school

Plans for South Gray Village, part of the Western Gateway.
Plans for South Gray Village, part of the Western Gateway.

Western Gateway residents say Dundee City Council underestimated the need for a primary school in the development.

A survey of people living in the area showed there will be 90 children who will reach primary school age by 2023, with 80 already attending primary or secondary school.

Of the survey respondents, only one sent their child to the designated catchment area schools of Ardler Primary or Baldragon Academy.

Only four whose children will reach school age in the next three years intend to send them to Ardler Primary, which is more than four miles from the Western Gateway.

Instead, most parents intend to enrol their children and Liff, Birkhill or Invergowrie primary schools.

Dundee City Council had planned, in conjunction with Angus and Perth and Kinross councils,  to build a school serving children from the ages of two to 18 in the Western Gateway.

The plans fell through after the councils failed to agree where the school would be located or how it would be run.

Dundee education chief eyes new primary after collapse of Western Gateway ‘superschool’

Residents in the development say the time spent exploring the creation of the tri-school means parents will have to wait even longer for a primary school to be built.

They also paid a ” roof tax” on their properties, which was to be used to help pay for the construction of a new school.

Ruth Bickerton, who organised the survey, said: “There are a lot of primary school children in the Western Gateway and people have moved to the development on the basis of a primary school being built, as has been promised.

“We would like the delivery of a primary school as soon as possible.

“Last year there was talk of a school which has held things up by about a year.”

She added: “People bought houses – and paid money  – on the promise of a school being delivered.”

Mrs Bickerton added she believes the council underestimated how many children would live on the development.

She said they used standard projections of just one child for every three homes but the true figure is closed to one child for every 2.4 homes.

She added: “We need something to make this a community. At the moment it’s just houses.”

Of the 460 houses built in the Western Gateway so far, the survey obtained responses from 113 households.

More than 600 new homes are planned for developments at Dykes of Gray, Liff Gardens and on land adjacent to West Green Park.

A Dundee City Council spokesman said the council will be presented with options for the creation of a new school in the area soon.

He said: “A report will be considered by the children and families service committee in due course.”