Public Consultation on Forres Common Good Land known as Roysvale Park under Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015

Introduction

The common good is a fund of money and assets, formerly owned by a burgh and now owned and administered by the Moray Council.

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.

Moray Council propose to use part of Roysvale Park in connection with the construction of the proposed new Forres Academy. Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 requires the Council to consult local communities prior to taking a decision on the disposal or change of the use of Common Good assets. As Roysvale Park is held as a Common Good asset, the Council is accordingly undertaking a consultation on its proposals.   

The Council considers that the proposals at Roysvale Park to facilitate the future Forres Academy have a number of benefits:

  • On completion of the project, the majority of Roysvale Park will be returned for public use with grassed pitch and pavilion, with improved drainage to enhance community use of the green space/ playing fields for future use.
  • Improve the traffic flow within the area, providing a dedicated bus drop off adjacent to Sanquhar Road.  This could be utilised outside school hours as parking for access to Roysvale Park and community use assets in the new school and surrounding area.

Throughout the construction phase, a substantial area of Roysvale Park will be available for use by the public and schools, including the pitch, as the use of the common good land will be minimised as far as possible.

Background

Forres High School was part of a successful bid to Scottish Government for Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) Phase 3 funding.  Following approval at the Education, Children’s and Leisure Services Committee on 19 September 2023, a feasibility study to support the Future Forres Academy Project was instructed and undertaken by hub North Scotland supported by JM Architects, Goodson Associates (Civil & Structural Engineers), Rybka (Mechanical & Electrical Engineers), Currie & Brown (Quantity Surveyors), The Learning Crowd (Educationalists) and Ryder (Consultation).  The study concluded that a refurbishment option would not offer value for money and be unlikely to meet the aspirations of the local community and it was therefore decided to progress with a new build solution.  The study continued to complete an appraisal of three site options for a new build school against fourteen factors weighted with respect to national policies that Moray Council are aligned with.  This included the National Planning Framework (NPF4), local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods, climate change and reducing carbon emissions policies.

The Education, Children’s and Leisure Service Committee on 14 May 2024 considered the outcome of the feasibility study along with the outcome of public engagement and recommended to Moray Council that the Applegrove/ Roysvale site be the preferred development site for the future Forres Academy.  On 22 May 2024 Moray Council agreed the recommendation that Applegrove/ Roysvale site be the preferred development site for the Future Forres Academy new build.

Roysvale Park has been identified as the only viable site to facilitate the construction compound.  Roysvale Park is currently utilised by the public, is hired out for football mainly between April and September and used by Forres Academy for PE.  

What land is affected?

This consultation covers proposals in respect of Roysvale Park, Sanquhar Road, Forres (Park) with the extent of land shown in the image below:

Roysvale Park

Proposals

The proposals for the Park are as follows:

Construction Area (short term disposal and change of use)

Part of the Park, shown in orange hatching on the plan (Table 1), to be utilised temporarily during construction as site setup, contractor’s compound and construction traffic parking for the duration of the build (estimated around 32 months). Following completion of the construction and removal of the compound area, the area will revert to its original grassed condition. The area will require to be fenced off for a further period of 12 months to allow the grass seeding to establish and restore the area to its original status.    

Bus Drop Off Area (appropriation of 12m strip)

  • Part of the area to the right of the Park shown in light blue hatching on the plan (Table 1) will be appropriated by Moray Council to provide a bus drop off for the new school. This would be a maximum12m width of land inclusive of a 4.5m shared footway/ cycleway and would look to retain (or replace as required) all of the well-established trees.

Footpath and Drainage (management proposals)

Although this is not part of the common good consultation, for completeness, we are also informing and consulting the public on:

  • Laying of a new 2.5m wide footpath adjacent to the pavilion (requirement subject to detail design) shown in brown hatching on the plan (Table 1). This does not constitute a change of use or disposal and is a management decision to change the surface of the Park to allow safe and useable access by pedestrians and cyclists.
  • Laying of new drainage within the Park and ground improvement works shown in dark blue broken line on the plan to facilitate the drainage associated with the future Forres Academy and which will improve the drainage and condition of the Park.

The proposals have been developed to minimise the area of common good land being used during the construction period so that the Park, swing park, footpath and playing field can still be used and enjoyed by the public.   The proposed final layout of the Park following completion of the works is shown in Table 2.

The Council currently anticipates that construction will commence in 2025 and complete in 2028.

Table 1 - Proposed Construction Site Layout including bus drop off

You can also view a readable image which can be enlarged here.

Table 2 - Proposed Final Layout Post Construction

You can also view a readable image which can be enlarged here.

Consultation

Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 requires the Council to consult local communities when considering disposing or changing the use of Common Good assets.  This includes where the proposal is to use a Common Good asset for another purpose.  Therefore, the consultation is seeking the views of the community in respect of the proposals in order to inform the decision-making process.

Key Questions

  • What are your views on the proposals in relation to Roysvale Park?
  • Do you have any views on the potential benefits of the proposals?
  • Do you have any issues or concerns arising from the proposals?
  • Do you have any additional comments?

Representations

The Council will take all representations into account in reaching a decision.

Anyone may make representations to Moray Council in respect of the above proposals.

Representations must be received by - Tuesday 12 November (8 weeks)

A public drop in session will be held on Monday 21 October at Forres Academy between 4pm - 7pm

Please submit written representations to:

  • Email: learningestate@moray.gov.uk
  • Post: : FAO Learning Estate Team – Roysvale Park Common Good, Room 209, Moray Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX

A template for responses can be found here if you wish to use this format.

All representations received will be published on the Council’s website and can be viewed here.

Moray Council is the Data Controller for this process. Please see our Privacy Notices for information about how the personal data provided on this form will be used.

After the consultation

After the consultation closes Council officers will consider all representations received in relation to the proposals. Council officers will then provide a report to Corporate Committee on the outcome of the consultation at which time a decision will be sought on the proposals.

If after this consultation, the proposal progresses to a court application the public will have a further opportunity to make representations within the Court process.  A statutory advertisement will be placed in the local press to inform the local public that the court process has commenced.

The proposals will be subject to any decisions made on the future Forres Academy, and all necessary future planning and other permissions that the Council requires to obtain.

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