New Wick primary could be delayed
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THE new super-primary being built alongside Wick’s new secondary could be delayed after it was revealed that the final funding package has yet to be agreed.
Highland Council and developers Hubco have still to agree on the cost of the new primary, which is part of the major revamp of school provision in the town.
A senior official has warned that unless the funding package can be thrashed out with the developers, the primary may not meet its scheduled completion date in 2015.
Last year, the Scottish Government approved plans for the building of the campus at the Wick High School playing fields, comprising the new secondary school and a primary school which would replace Pulteneytown Academy and South Primary. Also given the green light was a new primary in the north of the town to replace North and Hillhead schools.
While the £20 million capital cost of the new high school is being borne by the council and the Scottish Government, the building of the associated primary school is not part of the design, build, finance and maintain (DBFM) contract and will be entirely funded through council borrowing.
In a report to today’s adult and children services committee, education official Ron MacKenzie said there is general budget provision for new primary school provision in the capital programme for the next three financial years. He said this should cover the costs of the new primary.
But he concedes that whether the project will be delivered on time will depend on Hubco – a joint public/private venture – agreeing to build the school within the council’s cost limits.
Mr MacKenzie states that if agreement cannot be reached with Hubco, the project could be delayed.
“The major risk associated with this project is the co-dependency within the high school and community facilities DBFM contract,” he said.
“Highland Council is a front runner authority for the DBFM contractual process within Scotland and as a result there is the potential for the contractual process to be delayed as new and unforeseen issues are encountered.
“However, there is an awareness of these risks and there is close, ongoing collaboration between the council, the Scottish Futures Trust and Hubco in order to mitigate these risks and to allow the Wick community campus to be open and available to users in 2015.”
The affordability cap for the primary school at the campus has yet to be finalised and will be based on council estimates.
Councillors are expected to agree today to submit its project brief of the new primary and how much it can afford to spend.
Hubco will then issue a response in April or May saying whether it can deliver the project within the timescale and the council’s budget. Agreement would lead to construction getting under way at the site on schedule in September.
Wick councillor Bill Fernie, a member of the committee, yesterday said that given the council’s backing for the project, he did not see agreeing costs being a major issue and remains confident the project will be delivered on time.
“It is very unlikely that delays for the project will happen,” he said. “Things still have to go out to tender and until all the details have been firmed up we will not know the final cost, but that is the same for every project.
“The director of education has also told me that he does not see any issues with the project going ahead and that everything is on schedule.”
