Councillors yesterday set the wheels in motion for a new £50million school in a rapidly expanding Aberdeenshire town.
The new Inverurie Academy, which will service the whole Garioch area, was approved by Aberdeenshire Council’s policy and resources committee.
Space has also been set aside in the plans for a new swimming pool for the town after councillors voiced concerns that the current one could be overwhelmed by the rising population.
Yesterday the local authority’s head of property announced the school could be built by 2018, but has set a delivery date of 2019.
Councillors approved building the 1,600-pupil replacement on the site of the current Inverurie Academy, and also agreed negotiations for land to house a potential future academy in Kintore.
Inverurie councillor, Martin Kitts-Hayes, said: “Obviously as a local member I am pleased that finally Inverurie is getting something. This has obviously had quite a bit of a gestation period. We agree that option one is the best way forward.”
Fellow councillor, Bryan Stuart, said work on the site could bring about “some major amendments to the town centre” and backed the call for a new pool.
He said: “I remember the original pool being built, now Inverurie is two-and-a-half time the size. So there is a huge increase in demand for the pool facilities.
East Garioch councillor, Fergus Hood stressed that a new academy in Kintore was still very much on the table.
He said: “This council has not shot down the option of building an academy in Kintore. The most pressing case for a new academy is in Inverurie.”
He also vented his “continued disappointment” that work on a second primary school at Kintore was still not underway.
Due to various objections lodged by the owners of the land at Midmill, the Scottish Government will hold a public inquiry next month into the council’s proposed compulsory purchase order for the site.
Mr Hood said: “Hopefully soon after that the council will be able to proceed with the second primary school at Kintore.”
The Inverurie Academy plans were approved by the council’s Garioch area committee last month after members heard how a rapidly expanding population was putting pressure on existing schools.
The existing academy has a capacity of 1,100, but the roll could rise as high as 1,216 by 2021 if new housing and stay-on rates continue at current levels.