Aberdeen’s council leader last night poured cold water on the suggestion that the former Summerhill Academy site could be converted as a special needs school.
Jenny Laing, who is also convener of education, said the local authority was “too far down the line” with plans for another location.
The council has already committed more than £14million over five years for a replacement for the Raeden Centre on Midstocket Road, which closed in 2011.
Mrs Laing, a Labour councillor, said there had already been a consultation process to identify a site at Greenferns, off Howes Road, for the new school which would accommodate about 150 children.
She said: “That was deemed to be the best and most suitable site from several that we looked at for a facility for children with complex needs.
“I can’t see why we would come back from that, and I think we need to show the public in Aberdeen that we are prepared to deliver on these projects.
“I think for Mark McDonald, some of this is an attempt to cover his own back, because he made a statement not all that long ago that the deal for the Morrisons store was back on. He is now trying to deflect attention away from that.”
Finance convener Willie Young said the administration wanted to make sure that officials identified options for the Summerhill site “as quickly as possible”.
He said: “Now part of that might be housing, it might be that we re-market the site.
“We can ask our officers to bring some of those things forward.
“We were in negotiations with (Morrisons), and it has been a commercial decision for them and we have to respect that.”