THE catchment areas for Portlethen primary schools are to be reviewed following a council decision to push ahead with a new school at Hillside.
Members of the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee agreed to the move this week after hearing from the area's head of education, learning and leisure, Thelma Birnie.
A stakeholders' group, including parents and the community council will be establ
ished in August as part of the consultation process for the Hillside development. Construction of the new school expected to get underway in September or October of next year, with completion scheduled for 2012.
Plans for the replacement of Portlethen Primary with a new school building have now been officially shelved as a result of a falling roll and significant improvement work.
A 'zone' for the school at Hillside must now be decided upon and the addition of a third school for the town will alter the educational provision in the Portlethen area, according to the report which went before councilors.
It states: "The present school roll at Portlethen Primary School is 275 which means there are presently 200 vacant places. The school roll is projected to rise steadily in future years to 526 in 2016. This is due to the fact that the housing development at Hillside is presently located within the Portlethen Primary School zone and the number of primary aged children which are likely to be generated from this development has been factored into the roll projections for this school.
"At present there are only 20 pupils from the area west of the A90 trunk road, who attend Portlethen Primary School. However due to the large housing
development at Hillside a primary school needs to be built to cater for children
living on the west side of the A90 trunk road."
A total of £10.5million has been allocated for building costs, with a five-acre site and approximately £2million of this figure coming from developer contributions.
North Kincardine councilor Paul Melling said the feedback from Portlethen and Fishermoss parent councils indicated they were happy with the improvement works carried out but said some additional work was still necessary to ensure standards were met in the future.
Ms Birnie said the schools would feature in the council's maintenance programme and that further improvement work was likely to be carried out.
