New £11 million East Lothian school gets the green light

Plans to build a new £11 million primary school in the heart of a village have been unanimously backed by East Lothian councillors.

The proposals for East Linton Primary School will replace plans to build a £5million extension on the existing 140-year-old school building.

Councillors were asked whether they wanted to continue with the extension or commit to a new school with proposed locations on neighbouring land and the village’s only park.

‘And they voted unanimously for the new school after being told the school’s parent council had also asked for a replacement building to be considered and raised concerns about adding on to the original Victorian building.

A site plan shows the layout of the new East Linton school.

The majority of the layouts involve constructing the new building on a large part of the village’s Memorial Park, described by Councillor Lachlan Bruce as the “only green space” in the community.

However councillors were told that any loss of public amenity land during construction would be replaced once it was completed including football pitches, tennis courts, a playpark and skate park.

Councillor Bruce asked what action had been taken to look at other locations for the school “given it is the only green space in East Linton and they are already losing part of it to the new railway station.”

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And councillor Paul McLennan asked for an assurance that other communities with schools which had received the same Category-C rating for their poor condition were also offered to option of a new building.

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Following the approval of the new school by councillors a public consultation is expected to be held early next year to gather local views on the final site for the new school.

Head of Education Nicola McDowell welcomed the decision.

She said: “The data that we hold on East Linton Primary School and which was shared as part of our Learning Estate Review consultation showed that works are required to bring the existing school up to a modern standard in line with the facilities that we have elsewhere in the county.

“We look forward to working with the school, its families and the wider community to develop proposals that will benefit learners and East Linton.”

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