Plans in place to convert site of Edinburgh's Victoria Primary School into new community hub

Due to its expanding number of pupils the school will be moving into a new building based at Western Harbour.

Members of the Heart of Newhaven Community

Plans have been submitted to transform Victoria Primary School in Newhaven into a new centre focused on wellbeing, learning and culture.

Due to its expanding number of pupils Victoria Primary will be moving into a new building based at Western Harbour, which is due to be completed in summer next year.

The question of what lies in store for the school’s current site has been the subject of heated debate locally.

Now, Edinburgh City Council has confirmed that it intends to sell the old school building to local group Heart of Newhaven Community, who want to repurpose and operate the site “for community benefit.”

Heart of Newhaven Community is a spin off group of the Newhaven Heritage Society. Both parties have competing ideas for the site and previous attempts to form a united vision failed.

However, due to the coronavirus crisis only Heart of Newhaven Community has managed to make appropriate submissions for an official community asset transfer.

Should the transfer be approved, the group will undertake a phased refurbishment and occupation of the premises.

In phase one a nursery will be established in the school’s extension Anchor building, which was constructed in 2014.

Then, in phase two the Victoria Primary’s main school building will be refurbished across a ground, mezzanine, first and second floor.

Across the various floors will be a café, exhibition space, artists’ studios, rehearsal and performance spaces, community spaces for educational activities, a business suite, spaces for small businesses and a ‘Newhaven Museum.’

The site and its activities will be focused around three themes: Culture and Heritage, Learning and Enterprise, and Community Activity and Wellbeing.

The refurbishment will cost an estimated £1.3m, which under current plans will be attained through a combination of grant funding, business loans and fundraising.

The council has proposed selling the site to Heart of Newhaven Community for £700,000 and has rejected a request for £154,000 to cover outstanding repair works.

At a meeting on Thursday this week the council’s Policy and Sustainability committee will vote on whether to proceed with transferring the current Victoria Primary School site to Heart of Newhaven Community.

Council officials have recommended approval be given.

Rodney Matthews, Chair and Vision Facilitator of Heart of Newhaven Community, said: “We are looking forward to the council approving what we were planning long before everyone was stopped in their tracks. Except we haven’t been.

“We are well on course to create a beating pulse of activity on this excellent site which is literally at the Heart of Newhaven Community.

“It is for everyone who wants to be included whatever their age or interest in a wide variety of activities and thoughtful use of space, with different generations working to support each other.

“If it takes longer to establish than we first thought it will be improved by learning from need and experience . We aim for a ‘better normal’ where everyone matters.”