New Brae school plans to come before councillors

The football pitch where the new school could be built. Photo: Brian Gray

The first plans for a new £42.5m Brae education campus to replace the aging high school will go before councillors on Wednesday.

Members will be asked to approve the outline business case at a meeting of the full SIC next week.

Half of the costs will be paid for by the Scottish government – on the basis that the project is completed and pupils are in the new school by December 2027.

Councillors will be told on Wednesday that the preferred site for the education campus is the grass pitch at the back of the current school, which the council already owns.

The football pitch would be “lost during construction”, the report says, but would be re-instated where the current school is once the new building is ready.

Councillors will be asked to move the project forward, with decisions on funding the cost to come in the future.

The SIC revealed late last year the Brae campus was one of 10 projects set to build from a £2bn Scottish government school building scheme.

However, only half of the project’s £42.5 million costs will be covered by the government – and that will take 25 years to receive in full.

It means the SIC will have to pay for the project up front before it is eligible for its share of the funding.

The programme for the works estimates the school could be open by August 2027.