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.
- We have repositioned the school to an area of the site which largely avoids peat.
- 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.
- 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.
