Moray Council has taken steps to edge forward the creation of a new £28million secondary school, despite an uncertain construction date.
The project to build a replacement Elgin High School has been blighted by delays, but councillors yesterday devoted more than £530,000 towards covering costs.
The local authority hopes that having the money ready to begin work could mitigate against further setbacks once a funding wrangle surrounding the scheme is resolved.
Building will only begin once an accounting dispute between the Scottish Government and the European Union has been settled.
The council’s corporate director of education and social care, Laurence Findlay, said: “The issues surrounding the EU legislation have resulted in delays to the project, and there continues to be no indication as to when that might be resolved.
“We had been advised that the problems would be over by the end of the summer but we are still no further forward.”
Several weeks ago when Deputy First Minister John Swinney was visiting Elgin, Mr Findlay pleaded with the politician to do his best to ensure a speedy outcome to the troubles.
Mr Findlay added: “The deputy first minister assured parents, pupils and head teachers that he was doing all he could to progress the matter.”
Forres councillor George Alexander said his “worst nightmares had come to fruition” with regard to the project.
Mr Alexander queried whether the existing high school building may have to be refurbished in lieu of the replacement being built.
But Mr Findlay assured him that although the school’s opening had been indefinitely set back from its planned 2016 launch, the plans remained firmly on the table.
Meanwhile, the council agreed to plans for new catchment areas for Elgin’s primary schools which had been formed following a public consultation this year.
The move has been made to tackle future overcrowding problems, and will include the creation of a new primary in the south-east of the town.