Findrassie Primary School

Project update - January 2023

Findrassie Primary School is a 450 pupil school with Additional Support Needs (ASN) and nursery provision to be built to the north of Elgin as part of the Findrassie Masterplan.

It was intended to be open by the end of 2025 to provide additional primary school capacity in the Elgin Academy Associated School Group (ASG).

A decision to defer the final design and construction start date by up to five years was taken at a meeting of the council’s Education, Children’s and Leisure Services Committee on 25 January 2023.

A number of factors relating to capacity and affordability of the new build school project have emerged since it was approved in 2020 that have contributed to the deferment decision. These include general inflation, increased costs of key construction materials and the increased cost of public sector borrowing.

It had been anticipated that more primary school places would be required to respond to forecast demographic change and the continued growth of Elgin. Demand for places has, however, been lower than anticipated. Current school roll forecasts indicate a surplus of 336 primary school places across the current four schools within the ASG for the start of the 2025/26 academic session.

Although this surplus will decrease, predominantly due to families moving into the Findrassie residential development, the forecast still indicates that a surplus of 231 places would remain for the start of the 2030/31 academic session.

The decision to defer Findrassie Primary School will be reviewed annually by the Council.

About the Findrassie Masterplan

The Findrassie Masterplan specifies design and technical requirements for a new neighbourhood which will form the northern extension of Elgin over a 25 year period. It comprises 100 hectares of housing land with an indicative capacity of 1500 houses and 12 hectares of employment land.

The masterplan (approved by the Planning & Regulatory Services Committee on 1 December 2015) includes provision for a centrally located school incorporating community facilities, with opportunities for outdoor learning via allotments and an amphitheatre. It emphasises accessibility by non-motorised forms of transport and a strong network of walking and cycling routes is integrated throughout the development with links into the exiting urban fabric as well as the surrounding countryside.

The masterplan was subject to public consultation at the key stages of preparation and the finalised masterplan reflects the comments submitted though each consultation process.

Findrassie resulted from a collaborative planning and design process involving landowners (Pitgaveny), Moray Council, Savills real estate company, and a specialist consultant team (Masterplanners EMA, Ironside Farrar Engineering, Transport Planning, Landscape Architecture, Ian White) with Architecture & Design Scotland providing design review.

About Findrassie Primary School

The masterplan views Findrassie as a community school with its location establishing a focal point within the new neighbourhood and encouraging pedestrian and cycle activity rather than car use, although provision will be required for parking, drop off and pickup.

Concepts for the use of Findrassie as a community school will be discussed with stakeholders throughout the process to ensure it aligns with community needs.

Reflecting the Moray Learning Estate Strategy, the fully digitally-enabled new school will meet the target A for condition and suitability, with a lifetime maintenance plan to make sure the building meets the required B condition for suitability and condition over a period of at least 25 years.