Work on the replacement Riverbank School in Tillydrone is expected to start up again in the next few months as a contractor has been found for the project.
The remaining works have been awarded to Robertson Construction Group – the firm that initially started building on the site in December 2021.
Aberdeen City Council agreed to retender the project last summer following concerns over increasing construction costs.
Construction on the Tillydrone site was paused in August after the total project cost increased to £36.2 million – nearly £10 million more than initially budgeted.
But now a new contract has been agreed upon, the local authority has revealed work will begin in the spring with the school expected to be completed by summer 2024.
It is located on the site of the former Tillydrone Infant School and also on part of the former St Machar Primary School site.
The three-stream primary school with Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) provision will include a 3G sports pitch as well as outdoor play and learning facilities.
Aberdeen City Council said the contract sum was “significantly lower than previously tendered” but did not reveal the exact figure.
Retendering process ‘completely unnecessary’
Melanie Grant, co-chair of the Riverbank School Parent Council, said the group was glad to hear about the contractor, but noted there had been a “huge rigmarole” to get to this point.
She explained: “It’s been about eight months now since they actually stopped developing, to then end up going with the original contractor that was in place to start with – it just seems to have been completely unnecessary.
“Maybe I’m a bit dubious but I’d like to see the figures and see exactly how significant that cost is.”
Parent council ‘not raising hopes’ over promised completion date
The parent council say they will be “holding the council’s feet to the fire” about the promised opening date of summer 2024.
“They’ve set themselves a very tight deadline given that they’ve stopped the works for eight months,” Ms Grant said.
“I can only say we hope that’s going to be the case but honestly, I’m not raising my hopes.”
The group also say the officers should have kept parents updated with the latest details on the project after admitting they’ve had to chase the council for information.
‘The excitement is wavering a little now’
Ms Grant said there was “a great deal of excitement” about the school opening but admitted there are still some doubts about its delivery.
She said: “My son is now in primary 6, he’s going to be in primary 7 next year.
“This excitement started building when he was in nursery aged four – he’s now ten.
“He’s been promised the same school for six years so you can understand the excitement is wavering a little now.
“Speaking to a lot of other parents as well, I think there’s always that bit of doubt in the back of their minds – is this ever going to happen?
“Once we see the builders back on site, I think that will hopefully instil a little bit of excitement and the community want to see it actually start to get built again.
“People pass it and all you see is an empty site so it means nothing to anybody until they start seeing that building going up.”
Councillor to chase local authority for unanswered questions
Tillydrone, Seaton and Old Aberdeen councillor Ross Grant welcomed the news but said there were still questions to be answered.
The Labour councillor said: “Parents in the community will be pleased but also feel this has been a bit of a rigmarole having started with a contractor, gone through a painful eight-month delay and now back where they started with the same contractor.
“Questions should also be raised to learn lessons from this painful process so that communities aren’t put through this again.”
He asked for the council to provide more details about the extent of the costs saved through the retendering process.
Mr Ross also wanted confirmation that the contractors have enough staff to “avoid any further needless delay” to the project.
Conversation