It could be years before a primary school opens its doors to pupils in the Western Gateway.
Dundee City Council will concentrate on plans for a new primary school to serve the housing development after plans for a tri-council superschool collapsed.
Developers Springfield have already identified land that could be used to house the school but Dundee City Council’s children and families services convener Stewart Hunter said plans for the new school cannot be rushed.
He said: “We are disappointed about the tri-school. The public consultation showed that people, by quite a large majority, wanted it.
“When we spoke to people they were really excited about the possibilities. It is disappointing but it only works if all three councils are in favour.”
Mr Hunter said the council will now focus on creating a new primary school but it will be the middle of next year before a final report goes before committee following a formal consultation process.
He said: “We have to make sure the school delivers what parents want.
“It is a long process, even if it goes smoothly.”
Lochee Labour councillor Michael Marra, whose ward encompasses the Western Gateway, said plans for the superschool had distracted from the pressing need for a primary school.
He said: “The tri-council proposal has always been deeply complex and has lacked the necessary detail to win even initial approval.
“I do not believe it has ever been apparent to neighbouring councils just how the scheme could be made to work in reality.
“The only thing likely to make the problems worth solving was a very large amount of direct capital funding for the school from the Scottish Government.
“Whatever money was on the table was clearly insufficient to make addressing the challenges worthwhile.”
Mr Marra added: “We must be now be crystal clear with council officers that given the failure of this proposal any aspiration for a new western secondary school is for the distant future.
“Dundee’s focus must now be on the delivery of a Western Gateway primary school as soon as to is physically possible.
“There can be no further distractions. The report being prepared by officials must address how the school is delivered rather than presenting different options for education provision.
“There must be a timetable marked by urgency because the demand is current, parents need to plan for the future and the promises of a school must now be kept.”
