The £8.63m contract for Letham Primary School was awarded following a competitive tender process. The school will have 14 classrooms suitable for pre-school and primary teaching, a dining hall, social space and a two-court PE hall with retractable seating for performance and community use. The external areas will be designed for outdoor learning, PE and play.
The school is being developed at Letham Mains on the west side of the town. The site was zoned for housing in the council’s local development plan and planning approval has been given for 800 new homes. “We routinely secure developer contributions to fund the expansion of public facilities that will be impacted,” said head of education Fiona Robertson. “This can include extensions to schools or the development of community and sports facilities. The scale of the development at Letham Mains requires the provision of a new school so we have worked to secure the necessary contributions from the developers to bring forward this key requirement without impacting on the council’s capital budget.
“Work is well under way at Letham Mains to provide 800 new homes, including affordable houses, for our community,” said East Lothian Council’s cabinet member for education Shamin Akhtar. “I’m pleased that the contract has been awarded for Letham Primary School and this important part of the development can move forward. I look forward to following its progress.”
Work is due to start on site in February 2019, with completion expected in summer 2020.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
