Edinburgh schools: Officials say greenbelt site for new high school at Kirkliston would be vetoed by ministers

In a report to councillors they say that instead of giving Kirkliston a school of its own, efforts will now focus on an extension to Queensferry High School - even though there is overwhelming opposition to the idea.

But Lib Dem group leader Kevin Lang, councillor for Almond ward, which includes Kirkliston, says he believes the option of a school on a greenbelt site can still be pursued.

Officials say feasibility work on how Queensferry High School could be extended is under way

Secondary pupils from Kirkliston currently go to Queensferry High, but projections show that if pupils from the village continue to attend the school, it  could exceed its notional capacity of 1,200 pupils in 2025, growing to nearly 1,700 pupils by 2032.

Earlier this year, proposals to bulldoze Kirkliston's leisure centre and build the new school on the site were defeated at a full council meeting, with claims the site was too small and constrained.

After approaches to landowners by the council, which began some time ago, the owners of two separate sites have said they are willing to negotiate the sale of land to the council with no strings attached about new housing developments. 

But the officials say they do not recommend pursuing a greenbelt site because it would conflict with the council's Local Development Plan.  The report says:  "Even if it were to gain approval from the council’s planning committee, ultimately, it is likely to be rejected by Scottish Ministers."

And the report adds: “Feasibility work exploring the ways in which Queensferry High School can be extended is underway. This will be developed with the school community and reported to committee at the appropriate time.”

Plans to bulldoze Kirkliston leisure centre and build the school on the site were defeated. Picture: Jodie Hagan. | Jodie Hagan

But Councillor Lang said: “The clear will of people across Kirkliston and Queensferry is that Kirkliston should have its own secondary school. The report shows there are landowners who are prepared to sell land without any connection to new housing -  that is real progress.

“And the council does have the power to go against its Local Development Plan when there are good reasons to do so - I think there are good reasons to do so in this very specific case. What this report tells me is we still have a viable path forward to get a new school in Kirkliston on one of the sites around the village and I think that should be pursued.”

An informal consultation in January 2023 found 70 per cent of the 240 responses from people in Kirkliston supported a new secondary school in the village. The same exercise showed that only nine per cent of the total 808 responses received from Kirkliston and Queensferry supported the extension of Queensferry High School.

And in another informal engagement exercise in June 2023, 62 per cent of the 186 respondents did not think Kirkliston Leisure Centre site was suitable for a new secondary school. 

Cllr Lang said: “I don't think the leisure site or extending Queensferry High are the right solutions for Kirkliston or Queensferry.   People in both places agreed you shouldn’t just extend what is already a big and busy school.   And the advice from officers previously had been that there was a risk that you were getting to such a size as to a point that would impact on the education of children at the school.”

He said he would argue for the council to submit a “planning permission in principle” application, which would not involve architects’ drawings, to establish whether it could get the go-ahead for a school on greenbelt land. “Assuming the planning committee agreed to that, it would then be a matter for the Scottish Government to decide whether to call in that application in or not.”

And he added: “I've campaigned for many years to protect greenbelt land and would only ever consider building on such land when I felt it was absolutely necessary to do so. I think here you've got one of those cases where you've got very good, reasonable, justified and sound evidence as to why it's right to provide long-term education for the village on a greenbelt site.”