The Petheram Bridge car park to the west of St Andrews is being investigated as a location for a single-site Madras College.
The car park, just off the A91, is an attractive option as Fife Council already owns it thereby avoiding a protracted debate with another party over land sale and would also avoid school buses having to travel into the town.
It is also near the school’s playing fields at Station Park, with the possibility of a new footbridge or underpass to give pupils safe access over the main road.
Other sites being reviewed for a new school include Station Park, the St Andrews University-owned pond site at North Haugh, Pipelands and Strathtyrum. The controversial redevelopment of Kilrymont also remains an option.
Speaking to The Courier on Thursday, education portfolio holder Bryan Poole said the Madras replacement is a council priority.
He said: ”I also want to acknowledge the efforts of the previous administration in trying to develop the replacement in partnership with St Andrews University and while that wasn’t to be I think the effort by both Fife Council and St Andrews University in trying to make it happen should be applauded.
”But we have to move forward. It was and is my view others have a different view that Fife Council moved too quickly, following the breakdown of the Langlands option to settling for a rebuild at Kilrymont.
”The consultation that followed resulted in some pretty stark divisions in the local community and personally I don’t believe it would have been the right thing to do to just plough on without giving some thought to that.”
Mr Poole has met the Parent Voice Group and Madras Parents Council, and meetings will also take place with representatives of all the feeder parents councils and community organisations from St Andrews.
Mr Poole has also invited alternative site suggestions at those meetings.
He added: ”I appreciate there has been some exchanges in our local media, and perhaps that is to be expected, but from a personal perspective in any discussions I have had with local councillors from every political persuasion there has been unanimity in moving this forward as quickly as we possibly can and at the same time getting the best possible for this a future generations of our young people.
”Finally I would want to publicly recognise that two of the key groups in this project all the staff at Madras College and of course the pupils have had to put up with less than satisfactory physical surroundings for far too long.
”I can promise them that I will be working as hard as I possibly can to ensure the long talked about replacement school for Madras becomes a reality as soon as we can possibly achieve that and I trust that all other Fife councillors and the communities which Madras serves share that same aspiration.”