Big step forward for new Alness school
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A significant move towards a new Alness Academy has been made with the lodging of a planning application to build a new school and community facility and demolish the existing building and swimming pool.
The application has been made in the name of hub North Scotland Ltd, (small "h" cor) which is the driving force behind the planning, procurement and delivery of community-based infrastructure projects across the north of Scotland in conjunction with contractors and the Scottish government.
The organisation is responsible for a development pipeline totalling £400 million over the next 3 years, working with partners in the healthcare, emergency services and education sectors to ensure best value is delivered.
The new academy will be built on one of the existing sports pitches, and recently councillors agreed to complete work on a new synthetic playing field so that work on construction of the multimillion-pound academy can start next year.
Building the pitch first will allow sport activities to continue to take place during construction of the school.
Alness Academy was one of two much-needed schools to be protected when Highland Council slashes its capital budget.
The cash available for major projects will be halved from £110 million per year to £55 million per year meaning many facilities including new sports centres, schools, extensions and refurbishments will be scrapped.
However council leader Margaret Davidson said: "We need to sign off on Alness because the Scottish Government wants it delivered by 2020.
"We are also moving as much as we can in Inverness schools just to alleviate the overcrowding but a lot of the extensions we have planned will have to be demountable classrooms.
"I know we will need to move fast on the new Ness Castle Primary because we have just given planning permission for more than 700 new houses in that area."
The new Alness Academy is to be a 9,475 sqm building for up to 600 pupils with community facilites.
According to the design statement it is to be formed by two adjacent but separate elements for exibility of operation, a sports/community building housing a four-court games hall, gym and six-lane 25m pool, and a two storey main teaching block, with classrooms and break-out spaces wrapping around the double height assembly, dining and drama spaces.
There will also be a central library "that brings natural light and ventilation to the heart of the building via generous glazing, voids and rooights."
The central double height space defines the "heart" of the school, binding the various departments and creating a vital, active centre to the school added the statement.
