South Ayrshire Council News

The current school, built in 1967, is not unsafe but following an inspection Council officials have decided that alternative accommodation should be used.

A new school building cannot be considered until the end of the Council’s present review of the condition of all the schools in that area, so it has been decided to move the pupils to Portacabins which will be situated in the playing fields. However £800,000 has been earmarked for the possible replacement of Colmonell Primary School in the Council’s capital budget for this financial year.

Earlier this year, in order to get a wide range of views about the future of Colmonell Primary parents, staff, the wider Colmonell community and others were invited to take part in the formal consultation process as part of the review. The focus was the future of the school building and the possible decanting of staff and pupils to other buildings.

At the ensuing public meeting in the school in March, parents were able to raise questions and points for clarification. People were also invited to submit their views in writing about the future school provision in the village.

The technical survey of the main teaching block at the school was carried out by Officers from the Council’s Property and Design section and they advised, that although the building is safe to use, arrangements should be made to exit the building no later than August 2008.

Councillor Hywel Davies, the Council’s Portfolio Carrier for Lifelong Learning said: “Until the review of the Council’s school estate in this area is finished the long term future of primary provision within Colmonell will not be decided. However, staff and pupils will be decanted from the school and at the start of the 2008/09 academic year will be relocated into a series of Portacabins that will be located on the playing field site in Colmonell. This decision has been taken so that if a new school were to be built in the future then the site of the old school would be clear and accessible.”

The temporary accommodation will comprise of one large teaching room, an activity room, shared office accommodation, storage and toilet provision to meet the needs of the school. The cost of providing the temporary accommodation and associated works is estimated at £100,000 with an ongoing rental cost of £20,000 per year. These costs will be met from the Council’s capital budget.

The Council received three written responses during the consultation process, all of which supported the actions being taken by the Council.