Council quized over site U-turn
Graham Ford • Published 25 Feb 2011 09:30
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Councillor Willie Archibald
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CONTROVERSIAL plans on the chosen site for a new primary school in West Linton came under the spotlight at the Scottish Borders Council monthly meeting yesterday (Thursday).
Councillor Willie Archibald questioned the level of assistance provided as part of the consultation process given that the chosen location is directly in contrast with the preferred option within the community.
Villagers were shocked just a few months ago when council planners changed original plans to build the new facility on the south side of the Robinsland plot. Villagers hit out at the unexpected changes - and feared they would lose their only playing field.
During the open questions section of the full council meeting, councillor Archibald said: "What assistance was provided by Architectural Design Scotland (ADS) with regard to the provision of the new primary school at West Linton? Was a formal consultation requested by Scottish Borders Council from ADS.
"At a consultation with the local community in April 2010 Council representatives were left in no doubt that the preferred option was the Southern site and this was agreed, with plans prepared with that option as the final decision. Why were the new architects appointed by the council not informed of the result of this consultation with local people?
"There has been no public consultation to date on this reversal."
In reply education portfolio holder, George Turnbull said: "The council project team are aware of the commitment made as a result of the April 2010 exhibition to build the school on the south of the site and also of the views of the community.
"The project team continued to develop the first school design with the building on the south of the site during the summer of 2010 which culminated in a pre-planning informal peer review presentation to ADS in September.
"At this presentation the first building proposal fell short of the expectation of ADS in terms of mass, scale and orientation. In particular it was felt that the building's position on the south of the site appeared to turn away from the centre of the village - particularly in respect of the community facilities within the building.
"It was considered that there was no significant building linking to what should be considered an important public space."
The education spokesperson added: "Most people that attended the December 2010 exhibition thought that the new building design was a significant improvement on the first design."
This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 25 Feb 11
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