A public meeting will be held next month to discuss plans to replace a crowded Aberdeenshire primary school.
There are currently 217 pupils at Market Place School in Inverurie, but over the next three years the roll is expected to soar to 421 – well about the 219-pupil capacity.
Aberdeenshire Council has already agreed to build a replacement school, which will be relocated one-and-a-half miles away at Uryside, where hundreds of homes are being built.
The new building will include an indoor sports hall, two outdoor sports pitches, play facilities, a large dining area and a large nursery facility.
The community has already been broadly supportive of the proposals, which – at this stage – will not require a rezoning exercise.
Now members of the education, learning and leisure committee have approved plans to hold a public meeting on June 27 to give residents an update on progress.
The meeting will be held in Market Place School at 7pm.
The proposals are just one congestion-busting measure the committee discussed yesterday, with the final arrangements for the new Midmill School in Kintore also being approved.
The second primary is due to open next year, and the boundary lines have been changed to ensure pupils are going to the closest school.
After a consultation it has been agreed that children from new homes to the south of Kintore, as well as some from the north-east, will go to the new school. Pupils at the existing school will not be moved unless they request to do so, and sibling will continue going to the same school.
A similar exercise is now due to be launched in Westhill, where a growing number of houses are being built to the west of the town.
Informal consultations have been held with the head teachers of the schools in the Westhill network, and an online survey has been carried out to gain parents’ feedback.
Now the proposals will go out to consultation with the wider community in the summer. A public meeting will be held early in September.
Meanwhile, pupils numbers at Rayne North School have been capped at 75.
The committee agreed to cap the number of pupils to cope with a predicted surge in the number of out-of-zone pupils.
The move means that youngsters from other areas will not be accepted unless they are due to go into primary one and already have a sibling at the school. The decision will be reviewed next August.