The budget for a new secondary school for St Andrews looks set to be burst again as negotiations are finalised with the town’s university.
Already Fife Council has increased its cash pot for replacing Madras College from £30m to £40m.
But if the authority’s preferred site is agreed with the university, it will have to fork out an additional £2.55m for enhanced sports facilities.
In a report which will be put to councillors this week, education executive director Kenneth Grier says, “Every effort will be made to restrict overall project costs, but it is likely that this additional investment will push the project beyond the £40m budget.”
Protracted talks with St Andrews University, and concerns about the school’s integration with strategic planning for the wider area, saw the council reconsider its options.
These included building on a neighbouring site known as the “pond” which was favoured by the university but is regarded as a flood risk.
Other sites reviewed earlier this year include land to the rear of the David Russell apartments, land at Strathtyrum and the school’s existing Kilrymont Road campus.
However the site which councillors on the policy, finance and asset management committee will be asked to approve on Thursday as the best option is immediately adjacent to the north-west part of the university playing fields.
This would involve the construction of a stand-alone school with an adjacent all-weather pitch.
Investment of £2.55m would be made in university sports facilities for the use of the school, university and community and for use as a venue for pan-Fife school events.
This would be the council’s contribution towards a 12-court games hall, including running and maintenance costs for 25 years.
The site, which would be accessed from the A91, is that originally offered by the university, but its availability is conditional upon the extra cash.
Its use could allow the 2014 target date for opening to be met, but it was stressed that delays in reaching agreement had made the timescale extremely challenging.
Mr Grier says in his report, “If the council is to achieve a single-site replacement for Madras College with regard to the timescales… there remain two viable alternatives.
“The first alternative is to build a school on land currently owned by the University of St Andrews adjacent to the university’s sports facilities.
“The second alternative is to relocate the replacement for Madras on the existing Kilrymont site.”
He said refurbishing and extending Kilrymont would lack the “iconic impact” of co-located secondary and tertiary education.
Describing the preferred site as the best approach for delivering the council’s vision for secondary education in St Andrews and the area, he said, “More widely, it will provide a gateway between the university and Fife Council’s secondary schools and significantly enhance sporting facilities available to the wider community.”