News / Anderson High to move to Clickimin campsite
THE TWO decade wait to build a new secondary school in Lerwick is coming to an end after Shetland Islands Council agreed a joint funding deal with the Scottish government.
The government has agreed to pay two thirds of the cost of a £36 million school to be built on the camping site next to the Clickimin Leisure Complex, marking the beginning of the end of a painful saga in island history.
Three years ago builders were hours away from commencing construction on a £50 million replacement school next door to the existing Anderson High School at The Knab.
However a last minute petition led councillors to change their minds and agree to site the new school at Lower Staney Hill.
Since then the neighbouring Clickimin campsite has been chosen as the site. A hostel for pupils from remote and island communities will be erected either behind the Clickimin rugby pitch or in a refurbished Hayfield House, which currently serves as SIC education headquarters.
The school will be built under the Hub North Territory Schools Collaboration (HubCo North), alongside five other local authorities in northern Scotland sharing expertise and procurement using cash from the third phase of the government’s Schools for the Future programme.
The SIC will contribute an estimated £12 million from its reserves, while the government will borrow £24 million over a 25 year period, after which the school will belong to the council outright.
The planned school could accommodate 1,200 pupils at an estimated cost of £2,375 per pupil, 25 per cent higher than the £1,900 per pupil it would be if it was built on the Scottish mainland.
Extra money will be provided at the same ‘per pupil’ rate to cover the cost of a hostel and facilities for children with special needs, with enough left over in the contract to provide infrastructure such as roads.
On Wednesday councillors congratulated education staff for succeeding where five other councils had failed.
Councillor Frank Robertson reminded his colleagues that he had been involved in the original design of a school at Clickimin in 1993.
“I am delighted after nearly 20 years to see the project getting to this stage,” Robertson said, emphasising that it was “absolutely essential” to have a competent project team to ensure the building was a success.
Children’s services director Helen Budge said a project manager would be appointed and the council would have a direct input into every stage of the design.
Councillor Alastair Cooper was reassured that any attempt to add “bells and whistles” would have difficulty getting past the level of scrutiny involved.
The council hopes the new building will be completed by 2016, with the next 12 to 18 months being spent getting it to the detailed design stage. It is only then that the council will commit itself financially.
As part of the deal the council will have to buy the campsite land from its current owners Shetland Recreational Trust.
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