Dundee City Council is set to abandon plans to move more than 300 staff into the former Grove Academy building in Broughty Ferry but it wants to transfer a primary school there instead.
The shocking proposal comes three months after councillors voted in favour of the planning application to turn the complex, renamed Grove House, into offices at a cost of £1.9 million.
It comes only days after the Broughty Ferry local community planning partnership was discussing residents’ concerns about the strain on parking the influx of workers would cause.
SNP education convener Liz Fordyce gave her backing to the proposal, saying, “A move to the old Grove building is an imaginative proposal that would bring many benefits for the education of children and help to enhance their learning experiences.”
However, the announcement left opposition councillors bewildered, with Labour education spokesman and Ferry ward representative Laurie Bidwell saying it was an “amazing turnaround in such a short period.”
He believed there were potential educational gains to be made but said there were many questions unanswered about the decision-making process.
Derek Scott, who is one of the Conservative councillors for Broughty Ferry, said he found the abruptness of the proposal “quite bizarre and quite irritating” although he saw merit in the idea of moving Eastern Primary into the building.
He attacked the SNP administration for the way it had handled the project in recent months, saying, “What was it all about, why did we go through all that pain?”
A report to be presented to councillors next week states that only 70 of the 186 education department staff expected to move to Grove House will now need to do so as “opportunities for mobile and flexible working” can be used along with spare capacity at other schools.
The 151 social work staff also due to transfer will stay at their existing offices in Balmerino Road for up to three years before moving into other accommodation yet to be identified.
That leaves enough space at Grove House to take the more than 400 pupils and staff from Eastern Primary, whose 97-year-old premises at Whinnybrae, just off Monifieth Road, were only described as “adequate” by schools inspectors in 2007 due to many small classrooms and poor facilities for children with additional support needs.
The report, from council chief executive David Dorward and education director Jim Collins, states that Eastern is now at risk of a “serious breakdown” of its electrical system and a complete rewiring is needed. Moving the school to Grove House could save at least £770,000 and possibly more than £1 million, they say.
Grove Academy was one of several Dundee schools chosen to be renewed or replaced as part of a £90 million public/private partnership deal, which was spearheaded by the council’s previous Labour-led administration. A new school, close to the old one, was built in two phases and it has been fully open for a year.
That has left the old building, considered to be “in very good condition,” available for other uses.
In 2008, councillors had approved in principle a scheme to turn it into offices, bringing together staff from various education department support services who had been scattered across the city, along with social work staff from offices at Balmerino Road, which were said to be of relatively poor quality.
There was said to be “a significant benefit” from the joint working that would be possible through co-location-a benefit the council has now apparently decided it can do without.
The proposal quickly ran into opposition from residents worried about the impact of hundreds of workers trying to find parking spaces in what is already a congested area, especially at times when pupils are coming and going from Grove Academy, with associated parking problems.
The education convener defended the Grove House plan, saying, “The situation at Eastern has been very carefully considered, with major and costly rewiring needed if the school were to remain in its present building.”The education department would ensure that families are fully consulted before any decision is taken by committee.”
Mr Bidwell said he had gone to a briefing with council officials expecting to be told about the rewiring project, only to learn that was no longer the preferred option.”More than surprised”He said had been “more than surprised” to learn that they now wanted to move the school instead, as only a few months ago the administration had said it needed office space.
Mr Scott said he was unhappy councillors had only been given a briefing on the plans a few days before being asked to make a decision at committee.
“The SNP are making policy on the hoof, but we might end up with the best result,” he said.
Three options will be presented to councillors at Monday’s meeting of the education and policy and resources committees.
The first would see the development of Grove House continue as planned, with the rewiring of Eastern Primary taking place in stages over three years at a cost of £580,000.
The second would see staff and pupils decanted from the school for three months while the electrical work is undertaken at a cost of £350,00.
The third, preferred option, is the permanent transfer of the school to Grove House and councillors will be asked to approve the permanent relocation in principle and that consultation with parents, staff and trade unions is undertaken on the proposal, with a report back on the outcome of this in September.
Without the need to carry out the rewiring, significant financial savings are possible, the report says, including £120,000 per year in property costs through closing the Eastern building.
Potential educational benefits of the relocation could come through the creation of a campus where there are better opportunities for effective transition between early years, primary and secondary, and where the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence is enhanced.