Today was an important day.  Not just because of the Christmas celebration assemblies and the end of term, but also because we were able to reach agreement on the initial layout for the new build.  A teleconference call between the school, architects, Hubco and our senior project officer brought agreement on the last areas that were up for discussion.  The creativity and imagination of the architects are to be commended.  They were able to find solutions when we raised issues.  Now this plan can be sent to the mechanical and electrical engineers who will start working on the details.  There is little doubt that practicalities will require further amendments, but it is good to go into the holidays knowing that we have a design that has the potential to offer a quality experience for pupils and staff.  An exciting note to end the term.  Have a good Christmas and holiday!

After the recent announcement that provisional agreement had been reached between The Moray Council, Hubco and Scottish Futures Trust, the pace of developments has been moving fast.  There have been meetings with architects, the design team and senior staff in EHS.  The aim is to agree the basic plan before Christmas.  This afternoon we had a 75 minute telephone conference call to discuss the latest version of the plans.  It is looking good!  Although it will not be possible to achieve all that might be wished for if a blank cheque had been available, clever designing is allowing us to meet most of our goals.  The facilities are certainly looking to provide a great experience for the pupils.  More news to follow!  The first work on the grounds is still scheduled for the summer.

Elgin High School replacement project update: – December 2013

This newsletter, the last one of 2013 brings a very positive development.

Since our last update, The Project Team (The Moray Council, hubCo and Scottish Futures Trust) has been successful in gaining approval of a design scheme ‘in principle’. This is a significant move forwards.

A lot of effort has gone into finding an appropriate and affordable scheme for the school within the existing site which is acceptable to the Hub North Scotland Board. We are pleased to inform you that we now have approval to move to a detailed design which will enable us to submit planning permission in the next few months.

1. We have repositioned the school to an area of the site which largely avoids peat.
2. There is still the need to strengthen the supporting structures of the school framework by piling the foundations but this is now minimised and therefore, less costly.
3. The majority of the grass area which sits above the peat will remain undisturbed which is also a cost saving.

We are now looking at the access road to the school during the construction period to ensure that there is minimal disruption to residents, pupils and services.

There have been some adjustments with Hub North Scotland since November. Some organisational changes within their local team have been implemented. These changes have been received very positively and there is now a feeling that the pace of the project will pick up speed.

In the next few months, there will be a launch of a ‘meet the buyer’ event in Elgin. The purpose of this is to engage with local contractors who might be willing to undertake some of the work when construction commences in 2014. The Moray Council and Hub North Scotland will jointly promote this event to increase the amount of community benefit in using local firms. Further details on this will be supplied nearer the time.

This just leaves a final message to you all; to thank you for your continued interest and support in this project and to wish you a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2014!

See you in the New Year,

If you have any queries please direct them to ehsproject@moray.gov.uk or telephone 01343 563011

Regards,
The EHS project Team.

On Wednesday afternoon we had a meeting with Martine, Senior Project Officer for the local authority, and Stuart from JMArchitects.  This followed a long meeting they had had with Hubco.  The NPR has now been signed and so we are underway again.  Over the last few weeks and months there has been a lot of behind the scenes discussions and planning to overcome the problems of the peat and the affordability gap.  We now have until the Christmas holidays to finalise the floor plans.  Hopefully the contractors will be able to start late summer 2014 with a handover date of spring 2016.  A formal statement should be issued soon by Moray Council, but this is all good news!