FOI Request - Forres Academy Building

Request 101003845124

1. What will be the environmental impact (in tonnes of carbon dioxide released) of demolishing the
existing school and disposing of its materials?

2. What will be the environmental impact (in tonnes of carbon dioxide released) of building- a new
academy-including the carbon cost of all materials?

3. What will be the environmental impact (in tonnes of carbon dioxide not absorbed per annum) when the green space (grass and trees) at Roysvale park are built upon

4. What action will the council take to offset the environmental cost of building a new academy?

Response 22-09-2025

1. This will be included within the Carbon Statement submitted as part of the planning process. The information requested is exempt under Section 27 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2003 – information intended for future publication (within the next 12 weeks).  

The information will be published and available through our Planning Portal. Any information published and available through our Planning Portal is exempt under Section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here:  https://publicaccess.moray.gov.uk/eplanning

In order to find the information sought, please enter “Forres Academy” in the 'keyword, reference number, postcode or single line of an address' search box. All planning applications will be displayed.

If you do not have access to the web at home you may use the free of charge internet provision at Moray Council libraries.

2. This will be included within the Carbon Statement submitted as part of the planning process. Exemptions under Section 27 - future publication and Section 25 apply, as per 1.

3. There is a requirement, as part of the planning process, to provide information on carbon sequestration as part of the Carbon Statement. This will be submitted as part of the planning process. Exemptions under Section 27 - future publication and Section 25 apply, as per 1.

4. The Council do not currently offset emissions related to their activities, instead the focus is on reducing carbon as much as possible. The development of this school looked at options to keep the existing school or refurbish it instead of building new, however, due to the poor condition of the building, this was not possible. The project therefore has an embodied carbon target of <600kg/m2, which is in keeping with the lowest carbon banding associated with Scottish Future Trust funding model for new schools.