A plan which would create a multi-purpose “community campus” to replace the ageing Brechin High School has been approved in principle by Angus Council’s education committee.
Members agreed unanimously to support an option which, subject to the outcome of a public consultation, will see educational and community facilities created, costing up to £24 million, with the local authority contributing a maximum of £10m and the balance to come from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Futures Trust.
Recommending the committee go with this option, convener Peter Nield said it represented the most efficient use of the funds available and would provide Brechin with a “true community school” rather than “just a school.”
The option agreed offers opportunities to improve and rationalise the town’s ability to provide locations for community learning and development, sport, the performing arts and public gatherings with the additional possibility of enhancing healthcare facilities with NHS Tayside.
Councillor Mairi Evans, who said the plans seemed to “encapsulate just about every aspect of life in Brechin,” asked whether the development could threaten the future of the city hall, the leisure centre and the Damacre Centre etc.
Mr Nield said that, as far as he was able to tell, there were no plans to cut back on any existing facilities but this could become more focused during the consultation and construction.
Public consultation is likely to begin shortly and conclude in early March, after which the design brief will be developed by the end of August.
Once consents have been obtained and contractors engaged, construction is set to start in September, 2012, with the school expected to be ready for the pupils by the summer of 2014, when the current school will be demolished and the site landscaped.