Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east school could make way for housing

New Aberdour Primary School.
New Aberdour Primary School.

Aberdeenshire Council could close a former school – now used as a community centre – in the battle to meet the region’s housing needs.

New Aberdour Primary shut its doors in 2009 after the local authority discovered the cost of educating each pupil exceeded £23,000 – nearly £20,000 above the average Aberdeenshire figure.

Council bosses deemed the school to have too many students to function properly and lessons ceased in July seven years ago.

The remaining seven pupils were transferred to nearby Rosehearty Primary and the building has been kept open as a community centre.

But now, councillors are being asked to close the site altogether, while officials examine whether the facilities – which is only used for an average of five hours a week – is surplus to requirements.

In a report to the Banff and Buchan area committee, following a meeting with local community groups, education chief Maria Walker highlighted the issue.

She said: “Both the former primary school and public hall were under-performing assets, with the former school experiencing challenges in terms of the fabric of the building and supporting a low number of lets.

“There was a perception from the community members present that there was unmet housing need and a feeling the former school site could be utilised more effectively to meet this need.”

There is currently a waiting list of more than 10,000 for council housing accommodation in Aberdeenshire.

Mrs Walker is now asking local councillors to voice their opinion on the future of the former school building, as well as approving a further six-month review.

She added that groups currently using the school site for meetings and events could be accommodated at the village’s nearby public hall.

The local area committee will discuss the future of New Aberdour Primary when they meet in Fraserburgh today.