Hitch in sale of former Wick school due to contamination issue – 'Council should have realised'
The sale of a former school building in Wick has been held up, despite a potential buyer showing interest, due to a ground contamination report being required before negotiations can proceed.
The issue was brought up at this week's meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council by Wick and East Caithness councillor Raymond Bremner who said that the local authority "should have realised" that a survey needed to be done before marketing the building.
Cllr Bremner said: “As I believe it, the sale of the former Wick High School building is still a very fluid situation. I’m aware that council put the site up for sale and that there was interest and that council proceeded to the sale of the building.
"At this point in time however, I believe there is still some work being undertaken on reports in respect of ground contamination that council need to make sure are in place and that work on this is being processed before the sale can be concluded. I’ve not been given a time frame in respect of this but I’m hoping that the council can move quickly on it so that we can see the sale concluded and redevelopment of the site taking place."
Highland Council confirmed that these reports are not routine for property sales and were deemed necessary as "site investigations identified that there had been contamination on the site" and further tests to confirm the extent of the contamination were recommended.
A council spokesperson said: “As part of the ongoing conveyancing we are undertaking necessary ground reports. Due to their nature, these reports will take time to materialise. However, until these reports are completed and reviewed by the potential buyer, the current sale will not progress.”

Cllr Bremner said that the local authority is looking to determine the “extent of the contamination” and a walk over the site in “preparation for drilling/taking samples in the near future”.
He said it was unclear what the nature and sources for the contamination are at present but he said he will make enquiries to obtain more information from the local authority.
Highland Council said that the additional tests have been organised and "will be taking place in due course".