Moray Council urged to plump for Buckie High revamp option over rebuild by parent council chairman.
Calls have been made for the council to focus on a revamp option rather than a compete new build for an ageing secondary school.
Tuesday, June 17 saw Moray Council hold a public meeting in Buckie Community High School (BCHS) to lay out what the future holds for it.
The audience heard that among the options for the school - which on an A-D scale is rated C in condition, meaning the buildings need investment, and B in suitability include a £75 million revamp, a £100 million total rebuild or a hybrid model for which no estimated price tag was given.
While the external funding necessary for any of those options to progress is currently absent, the council’s Programme Manager for the Learning Estate Andy Hall stated at the meeting that it was vital to have “shovel ready” plans good to go once cash had been sourced.
During the event, BCHS parent council chairman David Malcolm urged the council to go down the route of a large-scale refurb, arguing that a full rebuild would actually rob students and staff of many resources they currently enjoy.
He also noted that, while on a guided tour of BCHS conducted by senior students, those questioned about how the condition of the school affected their learning said that it did not negatively impact on them.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “I don’t think that a full rebuild is what we need; I certainly don’t want it and I think a lot of the parents and pupils don’t want it, either.
“What we do need, though, is an extensive refurbishment of what is currently there.
”We’d lose so much with a complete rebuild. Look at Lossie High, for example. You got a lovely-looking new school in nice grounds, however the gym is on the first floor. This is open to the community during the day so you’ve got people wandering in and out during the day, which can’t be safe.
“It’s certainly not what I’d want for Buckie High.
“We’ve got four gyms and a pool at Buckie High and we’ve got classrooms with plenty of space.”
He went on to state that a revamp was perhaps a more financially attainable option to pursue, and called for the council to get detailed plans on the board as soon as possible to be ready for any funding which does become available.
Mr Malcolm continued: “To be honest I don’t think we’ll ever get £100 million released to build a new school, especially as Buckie High isn’t close to capacity, even when the new Springfield houses are built.
“I’m not in favour of the hybrid option, either. If they knock a building down and the roll projections show the school isn’t going to be at full capacity, it won’t get rebuilt, we’ll never get that back. It’ll be a way to save on costs.
“For me the obvious choice is the full refurb option. The old section of the school is basically fine, it’s the middle section built in the 70s that needs a lot of work done to it. The structure is OK - the roof is the problem, but the rest is essentially sound. There’s wear and tear you’d expect on a building that’s 40-50 years old.
“I think £75 million for the refurb is a bit of an overestimate and includes an extra 10 per cent added on top for good luck.
“What needs to be done is a detailed examination of the school by an architect and from that get detailed costings for the project before putting it out to tender. At the meeting the council gave us lots of estimates and best guesses but no actual costings, which is what we really need if we’re going to have a plan ready to go.
“The meeting was really useful but we need more detail to go forward.”
Mr Malcom added that he would be writing to Moray Council Chief Executive Karen Greaves and Mr Hall stressing that these measures need to be undertaken quickly.”
He added: “I have to say I was very disappointed with the turnout of parents at the meeting.
“There’re are 850 pupils at Buckie High but by my reckoning I’d say that in the audience there was only around 20-25 parents.
“If we want to stand up for our school we need to turn out in force.”
