Forres Academy - New School Build
The online survey has now closed. Analysis of the survey responses is planned to be reported at the meeting of Full Council on 22 May 2024.
An initial report was submitted to ECLS committee on 14 May with appendices detailing the full design team report and the outcome of both the online and paper survey.
Online survey results: Lochyhills 54.7% - Applegrove/Roysvale 45.3%
Paper survey results: Lochyhills 85.4% - Applegrove Roysvale 14.6%
FAQ's
Timescales
The next Education, Children’s and Leisure Services committee (ECLS) takes place on 14 May 2024.
The duty of the ECLS committee is to make a recommendation on a preferred site, which will then be referred to Full Council for a decision on Wednesday 22 May.
Project Funding
Site Options
Originally 8 sites were considered for a new build. 3 of these were not shortlisted for review as considered too small and/or within flood or flood alleviation impacted areas. Of the remaining 5 ‘viable’ sites council officers subsequently discounted 2 further sites: Grant Park site to the south of Andersons Primary on South Street due to the land being held in trust this was dismissed, the site to the east of Mannachie Road which was discounted due to this already being targeted for development as part of the Moray Growth Deal Housing Mix project.
Following several more assessments a further site at Grantown Road was discounted, due to the close nature of a gas pipeline and it being outside the Forres Town boundary with the surrounding areas not included in the Local Development Plan for development.
This leaves Lochyhills and Applegrove/ Roysvale as the 2 remaining options.
Existing annual school roll forecasting for the Forres ASG and wider Moray area takes account of future capacity requirements over the next 8 years – birth rate and residential development, which are the key contributors, have been considered in terms of the design requirement for the future school.
A further look ahead to 2035 – which takes account of any significant residential development to the east of the town (Lochyhills) – has also been undertaken using historical building output rates.
Design
There are a number of 5-18 campus schools already operational in Scotland and further schools are planned. In the case of the Applegrove/Roysvale site it provides an opportunity to create a 5-18 community campus school by incorporating the existing Applegrove into the design consideration.
If Lochyhill is developed there is capital funds to build a secondary school only, with the associated LEIP 3 funding based on a like for like replacement of the current Forres Academy.
The benefit of 5-18 campuses is well evidenced in Scotland and elsewhere. Specific areas of benefit include:
Learning
• Having staff who know the young people well throughout their time at school and with the ability to manage progression/transitions as they move through their learning journey;
• Enabling younger pupils to access specialist subject facilities and specialist teaching that would not otherwise be available to them in a traditional Primary school; and
• Providing opportunities for cross age collaborative working and mentoring amongst pupils.
Staffing
• Allowing staff to work across the whole age range, collaborate and share specialist skills. This creates opportunities for innovative approaches to teaching and learning;
• Greater opportunities for staff in terms of professional development and career progression which can support recruitment and retention; and
• Opportunities to bring together staff with specialist skills and knowledge, for example in ASN, to share expertise and support young people throughout their education.
Families
• Allowing parents to form a long-term relationship with one school through their child’s education;
• Ensuring families are known by the school and are getting the help and support they need, whatever age their children; and
• Supporting parents through opportunities for older siblings to take younger children to school or by having a single drop off point for parents at the start of the school day.
Efficiency
It is still important to create age-appropriate spaces and a sense of progression through the school and in the external areas, but there are opportunities to provide real efficiencies:
• in the design and use of space
• effective management structure which spans 5-18
• use of admin support and other non-teaching posts across the campus
Construction
Construction at either site would be bound by planning conditions and health & safety legislation. Due to the size of the project, it would have to be formally ‘notified’ to the Health and Safety Executive.
During planning there is a requirement to provide a construction traffic management plan which covers key issues on site:
• Keeping pedestrians and vehicles apart
• Minimising vehicle movements
• People on site
• Turning vehicles
• Visibility
• Signs and instructions
Planning conditions would state what hours of work would be permitted which would take into account noise. A construction impact assessment would also be required.
A full health and safety plan will be implemented including the management of noise as stipulated by the Health and Safety Executive. It will be a legal requirement to ‘notifiable’ the project to the HSE and will be managed within Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations – Part 3 of which mandates health and safety duties and roles. As part of construction planning there would be a stipulation of working hours, acceptable noise levels during construction etc.
Many new build schools have been constructed adjacent to an existing school (Elgin HS and Lossiemouth HS are recent examples) and as with those projects the H&S management of the sites will take account of all risks across the period of the construction phase.
As we are at early design stage, we are not able to determine whether piles would be required or not. If they are there is more than one option of inserting these – they do not have to be percussion driven and an augur method could be used to screw these into the ground, with significantly reduced noise and vibration, if this is identified as the correct solution for the location. All the aspects highlighted in the question would be addressed during detailed design stage and through the planning application and mitigations implemented during construction
An archaeological survey is typically required when planning a new construction project and this project is no exception. Both the sites would be surveyed early in the planning process and the risk of discovering evidence of anything of archaeological significance that would delay the project is considered to be the same.
The planning application process will take account of any local heritage issues related to the site selected. Any planning approval conditions related to these with be addressed during design which will not compromise the delivery of a state of the art sustainable new school.
Flooding
Existing flooding occurs within the site boundary in the 1 in 200-year event. The source of this flooding is from the Burn of Mosset and Sanquhar Loch to the south of the site, with the predominant area affected being the existing school and smaller areas of flooding within Roysvale park.
The extent of this flooding has been determined from SEPA flood maps, and a flood risk assessment completed by Moray Council in 2021.
To ensure that there is no additional flooding outwith the boundary of the site, if this site was selected, it is proposed that any flood water displaced by the new development will be accommodated by lowering levels elsewhere within the site boundary (known as compensatory storage). Given the low levels of flooding on the site, it is expected that only minor adjustments to the existing levels to the south of the site will be required to accommodate this. This in turn will ensure that there is no increase in flood risk to surrounding properties as a result of this development, up to the 1 in 200-year event (with an allowance for the effects of climate change).
As part of the next design stage, if this site was selected, further detailed flood studies will be carried out to accurately determine the flood extents and the detailed design of any compensatory storage required.
Drainage - the surrounding network is a fully combined system. A Pre Development Enquiry has been submitted by civil engineers (as part of their standard site investigation) to Scottish Water to establish if sufficient capacity exists to allow for both surface and foul water to be discharged to this network.
Groundwater - The preliminary boreholes show that the water table varies from 0.69-1.96 metres below ground level (mbgl). Instantaneous recharge was noted during site investigation which indicates that standing water table is present. Based on this, it is likely that the contractor will encounter ground water during foundation and drainage excavations, and an allowance for dewatering would be considered.
Surface Water Discharge – the main impact of any building development is to increase the proportion of impermeable surfaces (e.g., roofs and paved areas) within the site and without careful planning this could increase peak rate rainwater runoff. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) aim to mitigate this effect by emulating natural drainage systems and the provision of storage. Options such as porous paving, filter strips and linear swales which can be accommodated within the landscaping will be preferred. It is also assumed that to attenuate the additional storm water runoff from the development, a below ground storage tank will also be required. The connection for the surface water would need to be approved by Scottish Water on the site. The primary method of attenuation would be provided by below ground attenuation tanks as it is anticipated that options such as SUDS basins and ponds will not be viable for this site due to their large land take.
The overall impact of the proposed site civil engineering approach is that current flooding issues on the Roysvale park area would be significantly mitigated.
Flooding - Pluvial (rainwater) flooding is observed on SEPA flood maps, however, this is not of concern as drainage design will take this into consideration.
Groundwater - The boreholes show that the water table varies from 3.2 – 4.6 metres below ground level (mbgl). Based on this it is anticipated that ground water may be encountered in deeper excavations.
Surface Water Discharge – A connection for the surface water discharge is yet to be approved by Scottish Water, and the area of hard standing is yet to be set, therefore, the outfall rate cannot fully determined at this stage. However, based on the assumption the school will have a similar layout to the proposals at Applegrove/Roysvale Park it is estimated approximately 1400m3 of storage will be required to manage the “1 in 200-year” storm event with climate change. The primary method of attenuation will be provided by below ground attenuation tanks as it is anticipated that options such as SUDS basins and ponds will not be viable for this site due to their large land take. Treatment will be provided by options such as porous paving, filter strips and linear swales which can be accommodated within the landscaping.
Traffic
The current school roll capacity is 1121 with the current planned new capacity of 1240, an increase of 119 pupils, although this will be reviewed against the project school roll forecast out to 2035 during the design phase.
To understand the traffic and parking patterns in the local area, traffic and parking surveys will be required to inform any future planning application.
Transport
Council policy, in terms of free transport, will apply regardless of the chosen option for the future Forres Academy.
The statutory walking distance requirement is three miles for all pupils aged over 8. The two mile rule is however currently the standard for all Moray pupils with the exception of the two Elgin secondary schools where the statutory three miles apply. This was implemented through Committee report several years ago to account for the expanding boundaries of Elgin.
If a pupil has more than two miles to walk to reach Forres Academy, they will be granted transport under the current policy. A pupil can be expected to walk up to two miles to access transport. With the Lochyhill site this would see some residential properties to the south of the town (along the Grantown Road) potentially entitled to council provided transport to the new secondary school.
Green Space
Common Good
All Common Good property falls into one of two categories – alienable or inalienable. Alienable property can be sold, leased or otherwise disposed of in a permanent or semi-permanent way that reduces public use. Inalienable property cannot without a court order.
Inalienable property includes town halls, market squares, parks or greens, and churches – although the status of each asset needs to be individually determined, it cannot be assumed. All other Common Good property would be alienable.
Inalienable Common Good - in order to appropriate the land the Council would require to obtain the consent of the Sheriff Court in terms of Section 75(2) Local Government (Scotland) Act. In addition, Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, which came into force on 27 June 2018, requires that before taking any decision to appropriate a Common Good asset the Council must publish details about the proposed disposal.
Current Site
Update (28 March 2024)
Further to the ECLS meeting on 27 March it was agreed that the next step for the Forres Academy project is to engage with the community regarding the site selection for the new build.
There are two site options remaining following the committee meeting: Lochyhills and Applegrove/ Roysvale.
Whilst there are risks associated with developing either of these sites it was noted that only Applegrove/Roysvale Park is under ownership of the Council, Lochyhill would require the Council to formally acquire the land in question.
The main risk with developing the Applegrove/Roysvale site lies with the fact that a major part of the developable site is classed as ‘Common Good’, although the main school building is not planned on this site but rather the Council-owned land adjacent to Applegrove Primary School and currently used as grass playing fields by them.
The cost for developing the Lochyhill site is up to £4m more than the Applegrove/ Roysvale site.
An overall location plan and plans of the two proposed layouts are provided below:
Lochyhills
Applegrove/Roysvale
An options appraisal of the two sites has been undertaken. The criteria and scoring are shown below.
September 2023
With the Scottish Governments approval of the LEIP 3 funding bid for Forres Academy, Moray Council have engaged Hub North Scotland and a Design Team to start work on designs for a new Forres Academy.
Three sites have been shortlisted as suitable locations for the new Forres Academy and these are presented in our ‘Place Based Review’ which assesses each option against the project’s Strategy & SMART objectives.
You can view the potential site options here.
While informal public consultation to gauge an intial response to the three site options has already occurred future formal consultation will occur and allow the opportunity for community to feed into the design and options for the new school, this will be communicated in the new year.
Contact Us
Moray Council Learning Estate Team
Council Office
High Street
Elgin
IV30 1BX
01343 563374