‘New Forres Academy should be built to east of town’
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A group called Forres New Academy Forum is campaigning for the replacement secondary school to be built at the eastern edge of the town.
Part of the current school has been closed on safety grounds since July following the discovery of faulty RAAC concrete.
Moray Council aims to open its replacement by December 2027 and is presently conducting a survey, asking the public which of two sites they would prefer.
The first option is on common good land at Roysvale Park, about 250 yards from where the school is now.
The second is Lochyhill, which lies to the east between Forbeshill and the Enterprise Park,
Forres New Academy Forum argues that the best place to build is Lochyhill.
A spokesperson for the forum, which states it has 500 members, said: “An argument often advanced by those in favour of Roysvale Park is its central location.
“This is not a valid reason as the centre of gravity will, in the future, shift to the east of the town as new buildings zoned for the Lochyhill site develop.”
The forum also cites flooding and traffic congestion as reasons not to build at the Rosyvale site, which is next to Applegrove Primary School.
Its spokesperson said: “Roysvale Park acts as a soak away for excess rainfall.
“The present Victorian drainage infrastructure is already under significant strain. Further stress to the system will overwhelm it.”
The council’s states that building at Roysvale will cost £4million less.
However, the forum argues that amount, and probably more, would end up being spent trying to prevent flooding.
Meanwhile the narrow and crowded local roads would be unable to cope with the extra traffic both during the construction phase and beyond.
The spokesperson added: “Roysvale has been an important part of the town’s heritage and history, being gifted to Forres before Grant Park. These areas are precious and should be valued for everyone’s wellbeing.
“The purchase of land at Lochyhill should be much simpler than fighting a lengthy, expensive court battle to grab our common good land.”
A third potential site for the school, on Grantown Road, was earlier discounted by Moray Council because of its proximity to gas mains.
The Forres Academy Location Survey being conducted by Moray Council will close on April 25.
It can be found HERE
A public open day about the two remaining proposals is being held at Forres Town Hall on Thursday, April 18, from 10am-7pm.
The full text of Forres New Academy Forum’s statement is below:
Our children are the future and it is the responsibility of all adults to ensure that the children have the very best educational opportunities. The provision of funding from the Scottish Government to replace the existing Forres Academy presents a golden opportunity to deliver on our aspirations and we should use this opportunity wisely.
We know from Moray Council that two potential sites are now under consideration – Lochyhill and Applegrove/Roysvale and Moray Council have released The Forres Academy Location Survey to the public for them to express their thoughts and state their preference. The front page of the Location Survey clearly states that one site would cost £ 4 million pounds more than the other. Knowledge of this information would on reflection seem to be a persuasive argument in favour of one site over the other. It would seem to introduce an intentional bias that may influence people in their choice of site. However, we do not as yet know how this figure was derived and we do not know if it is accurate. It may have been plucked out of thin air and yet it features on the front page of the Location Survey as an absolute truth.
The fact is that funding is secure and while it is important to be fiscally responsible this should not take precedence over our stated aim to provide the best educational opportunities for the children. The apparent £4 million pound cost difference is almost irrelevant when we consider the total budget allocated by the Scottish Government to Moray Council for this project. We should therefore not be blinded by the knowledge of this sum. The inclusion of this information has not been a helpful development particularly when the population is trying to make an informed choice on the best location for the proposed academy.
With any project there are of course hidden costs and the introduction to the Location Survey makes no mention of these. It is for example highly likely that the cost of drainage and strategies to mitigate flooding in the Applegrove site will more than exceed the putative potential saving of £ 4 million pounds.
When we have an important decision like this that will have far reaching consequences on the education of our children it is incumbent on us all to pause for reflection and consider the arguments carefully.
The main purpose of an academy is of course to provide a safe and effective learning environment. This is the most important consideration. It would therefore be useful to consider each site with reference to this objective.
Applegrove/Roysvale Park
The proposal involving this site would be to locate the New Academy on the existing Applegrove Primary School playing field which is adjacent to the primary school. The site is small and constrained and reflects a downscaling of the original intention to appropriate a large section of the Roysvale Park. As this is Common Good land, it would require a court order to reappropriate the land for this purpose. Consequently, the ambitions of Moray Council have already been tempered and the location of the site is now to be a constrained area with attendant problems. This alone threatens to compromise the learning environment both for primary and secondary school pupils.
The intention is to build the secondary school next to Applegrove Primary school and this would be fraught with dangers and difficulties.
Safety and noise
The construction of a new secondary school is a major undertaking especially when it is to occur next door to a primary school that is expected to function normally during a process that may take three years to complete. The impact on pupils and teaching staff while this work is underway will be unimaginable and the disruption to education is unquantifiable. Pupils and staff will be subjected to unprecedented levels of noise pollution, vibration and increased traffic flow. The retention and recruitment of teaching staff to the school at a time of such upheaval is likely to be adversely affected. Some of the pupils who attend this school already have special needs and such an environment will be hostile to them. The cost to these young children is inestimable. The construction period is likely to take at least three years and will impact on pupils at both sites and have a potentially deleterious effect on their educational journey and examination performance.
Construction traffic in a location adjacent to the Primary School presents further challenges and serious health and safety risks to pupils, staff and parents. In addition, if an accident did occur on such a constrained site occupied by construction vehicles causing traffic congestion it would be extremely difficult for emergency vehicles to obtain access and respond in an appropriate time frame. This could have catastrophic effect. We understand that legally construction can only be carried out if access to emergency services is assured on a site.
Furthermore, their playing field will be sacrificed and their quality of life in general will be adversely affected. A proposal to counter the loss of the playing field is the use of a small area bounded on both sides by busy roads. In addition, this site is itself subject to flooding and also raw sewage in this location has previously been reported to Moray Council and yet this site has been proposed as a suitable alternative despite the obvious risk to health resulting from exposure to pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
Flooding
Flooding already occurs as a consequence of heavy rainfall in this area. Roysvale Park and Applegrove playing fields act as a soak away for excess rainfall but, even at this juncture, it is only partially successful in this role and flooding is an all too frequent a consequence. A new build on this green space will completely negate this beneficial effect and will increase the risk of local flooding. This will impact on the existing road network and place the new school and homes in the area at an increased risk of flooding. The trees around the Applegrove site not only enhance the area but provide effective carbon capture and water uptake. Damage to mature trees or removal of trees will make the risk of flooding more likely and remove their beneficial carbon capture. This is important as school traffic will continue to this site and increase over the years.
The present Victorian drainage infrastructure is already under significant strain and further stress to the system resulting from the new build on Applegrove /Roysvale Park will overwhelm it. As a direct consequence of climate change, weather patterns will change and an increase in rainfall is predicted. We have already experienced the effect of increased rainfall over the past few years in the area.
Significant work would need to take place in order to make good and improve drainage around the site and this alone poses a serious threat to the stability of surrounding properties including Applegrove Primary school. It would also be costly and this does not appear to have been factored into projected costs thus far.
Flooding will be highly disruptive to education and damaging to infrastructure, in particular to the proposed new school and undermine the investment in education. A concerning situation is already in process with the building of a new school in Tain. Prior to the onset of construction of the new Tain Academy there were objections about the proposed site due to the risk of flooding. These concerns did not halt the process and now that the school is under construction, fears of flooding in the area have already been realized. Replication of this situation in Forres would be a catastrophe.
Flood storage attenuation on this site may not be efficient if the ground water levels are already high and Victorian drainage and sewage network infrastructure already suffers from overflowing.
Traffic and Construction phase – Impact on Health and Safety
Construction traffic will compete with the existing traffic to three schools (Andersons, Applegrove and the Academy) residents, businesses and these roads are already under significant pressure. The construction of a new academy may employ over 200 people at peak. Traffic movements for personnel would be around 300 times per day, while deliveries of plant and materials could peak at over 500 vehicle movements a day. Traffic movements for schools and a potential construction project would be well over 1000 per day. Narrow, already crowded local roads are not designed for this traffic volume that would include 48 tonne HGVs. The Applegrove site plan proposes a split site with parking positioned at a distance from the New Academy which is likely to result in more roadside parking further compromising routes of access. The proposed bus drop off zone appears to have an inadequate turning area.
An in-depth study into the impact of increased traffic in the building phase and operating phase of the Applegrove/Lochyhill site does not appear to have taken place. The high level of traffic that already exists in Orchard Road, the Tolbooth roundabout and St Leonards Road is already negatively impacting the area during school commuting hours. This has recently been exacerbated due to the installation of traffic lights on St Catherines Road. With no active traffic management in place, illegal parking is rife, safe driving speeds are not being maintained and scenes of road rage are prevalent that never existed two years ago. The police have been called numerous times because of dangerous/illegal parking at school pick-up times. This will become a very dangerous area for existing school commuters of both Primary and Secondary age-groups. These unpalatable conditions will grow exponentially if a new school is placed on this site.
The junction from Nelson Road to St Leonard’s Road is precarious due to the inability to see to the left before moving from the junction. Moray Council already agrees St Leonard’s Road is a busy road as per their park status minutes confirming they will not replace the swings on Roysvale Park once they are out of commission due to their proximity to the road. Given these two facts alone, it makes no sense in terms of public safety to increase traffic in this area, never mind designate it a bus route.
Invariably, there are vehicles parked on Orchard Road, often making that entrance a blind and tight corner. Tom Ross and Sons hold funerals at their premises, and will have to come out of there to a noisy construction site as well as congested roads, when people are already overcome with emotion.
An increase in traffic volume will have health consequences with an increase in pollution and will result in an adverse effect on respiratory conditions (asthma in children being one example). A recent case of a child’s death was attributed to environmental pollution as a direct result of traffic issues and gained national attention. As a consequence of this, the Government has recognized the importance of pollution as a contributory factor to excess morbidity and mortality and this has been the motivating force behind ensuring good air quality and reduced pollution in cities and towns nationwide. It would seem however that Moray Council would be willing to place our children at risk in order to make a fairly small fiscal saving and run counter to this imperative. Accidents to school children are a very real concern as a result of increased traffic flow. Residents’ pets have already been run over and killed previously by motor vehicles on Sanquhar Road. Getting to and from schools will take considerably longer navigating the traffic congestion.
The process of Pile Driving to establish the foundations, for what must surely be a three-storey structure, may well produce shock waves which can destabilise buildings as far away as the High Street where many of the buildings are historic. Indeed, the shock waves could potentially undermine the structure of Applegrove Primary which is very close to the construction site and also the current Forres Academy which has RAAC cement issues already rendering it structurally weak. Has Moray Council factored in budget provision to compensate for structural damage to properties resulting from the construction process? The process of pile driving may alter the natural water table worsening the situation regarding flooding which already exists on this site. Dust produced during the construction phase will be considerable and can be mitigated by dampening down the site but this would obviously exacerbate the concerns with flooding.
Design of the proposed building has not been presented as yet but if the new academy is to be built on an elevated site in order to reduce the risk of flooding to the new school this will critically endanger the surrounding properties and Applegrove School with a substantially increased risk of flooding. The loss of soak away area due to the building itself and the Roysvale Park that will be hard surfaced when being utilised for construction materials and vehicles will result in significant conditions for flooding. Indeed, should the building be situated on an elevated site this will increase its height which is likely to be a three-storey structure due to the constrained footprint.
All of the above will impact adversely the health and well-being of residents, pupils, teaching staff and business owners. Many residents are indeed elderly and some in poor physical and mental health.
Impact on Children
Aside from the issues already raised (effect on learning, traffic flow and pollution, exposure to pathogenic viruses and bacteria from raw sewage, noise pollution) there are other concerns.
The children and young people who will be greatly affected have not been properly consulted about this proposal. Many of them cannot access online surveys. The council has a duty to consult meaningfully with children on matters that affect them under article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and under the Planning (Scotland) Act. The UNCRC was recently enshrined in Scots Law and if any planning application does not honour this in detail and/or provide evidence that this process has been fulfilled, then the Scottish Government would be entitled to withdraw funding.
The Council is trying to bill the Applegrove site as an ideal place for a 5-18 campus. There is no precedent for 5-18 campuses in Scotland, apart from enhanced provision schools which tend to be much smaller. The majority of 3-18 campuses in Scotland have been built on greenfield sites on the edge of town and there is no precedent for shoe-horning such a significant build into town centres.
An argument often advanced by those in favour of the Applegrove/ Roysvale Park is that of a central location. This is not a valid reason as the centre of gravity will, in the future, shift to the east of the town as new buildings zoned for the Lochyhill site develop. Indeed, the only possible location for further expansion to the town of Forres is towards the east. Arguments, based on the present central location, are therefore, not tenable. Furthermore, pupils residing in Forbeshill are not in a central location at the present time and, if the New Forres Academy is built on the Applegrove playing field site, they will remain disadvantaged if we accept this threadbare argument. Provision of an electric shuttle bus service within school hours may well in turn benefit the the entire community. The young already have free bus travel passes.
The health benefits from walking and cycling are well known. The provision of walkways and cycle lanes would pay dividends to physical and mental wellbeing of pupils and would be in line with the aspirations of the Scottish Government to enhance and encourage healthy living. This is an opportunity not to be lost.
We need to take a holistic approach that will benefit the entire community.
In conclusion, a safe educational environment is surely our ultimate collective aim. Building a new school on Applegrove/Roysvale Park would not deliver on this promise and would be soon be pilloried as the wrong choice.
LOCHYHILL
Forres is fortunate to have an open, spacious, future proof, possible site for the new Academy adjacent to Forbeshill, at Lochyhill, if the Moray Council have the vision and wisdom to select it.
It would provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to concentrate resources on a school our children deserve after years of enduring aged buildings, Covid, strikes, asbestos and shocking RAAC problems.
-Granted this site is on the edge of Forres however this is the direction the town will develop in the future. Therefore, it is an ideal opportunity to develop networks to benefit future construction. Utilities already exist around the site (Forres Enterprise Park) and access routes established there can be further developed in partnership possibly with the future developers of the housing to be built there. The old road remains therefore the pupils do not need to venture near the A96 and it is an ideal opportunity to have it developed as a cycle path for the whole community.
-Although the site is a distance away for pupils from the Grantown Road area the buses already taking pupils from outlying areas can detour to pick up those requiring transport. The concept of an electric shuttle bus service to take pupils to the swimming pool for lessons and other activities. Young people already are entitled to free bus travel for times out with school bus services.
- This would be a school campus that Forres could be proud of, learning from the other Moray secondary schools built on generous sites away from busy central streets.
- There is ample room for sports fields and parking, all at a convenient distance within the site, near the school.
- The build would go ahead quickly, keeping the disruption of many large heavy lorries, storage of materials, air pollution etc well away from pupils and residents during the 3 years of construction. Access would be achieved to the construction site via the backroad from Cathay Nursing Home to the Enterprise Park.
- The purchase of land at Lochyhill should be much simpler than fighting a lengthy, expensive court battle to grab our Common Good land.
- The area is already zoned for housing and a primary school, so further expansion of Forres will be in that direction.
- Roysvale Park will be unaffected by building near Forbeshill and the residents of Forres can continue to enjoy the priceless amenity we have there, keeping our town beautiful. Roysvale has been an important part of the town’s heritage and history, being gifted to Forres before Grant Park. These areas are precious and should be valued for everyone’s wellbeing.
- Applegrove will keep their playing field, if the new academy is built at Lochyhill, and as the biggest primary school in the area, will have an enviable grass area for sports and recreation. Furthermore, it would allow future expansion of Applegrove itself.
- Ecologically, building at Lochyhill would allow tree planting and green landscaping.
- Proximity to the Enterprise Business Park would create learning opportunities for the students.
- The Lochyhill site is not far from existing utility infrastructure at the Enterprise Park.
- The Lochyhill site has easier access, and could make use of the A96 roundabout at the Enterprise Park, with a connection soon after that roundabout to the building site. Some green cycle paths should also be created.
- Although Mr A Hall states that building a school in the playing field of a school “is normal” and not a problem, it is usually in the old school’s playing field, not one belonging to another school, which is not to be replaced. And not usually in a small urban area using Common Good land. Also contrary to Mr Hall’s report, Lochyhill is NOT ‘remote’ from the town! It is adjacent to Forbeshill where the Carisbrooke Hotel is located and well within the anticipated area for the future development of Forres.
The Lochyhill site would eliminate the risks and problems outlined below which the Applegrove plan introduces.
Choosing Lochyhill would mean:
- There is no need to steal Applegrove Primary school’s playing field. (Where will primary pupils play football before school every morning?)
- If country schools are to be closed, Applegrove will expand, so it does not make sense to build on their playing field where they would need to expand.
- There is no need to squeeze the new academy immediately next – too close - to the primary buildings, without playing fields. (Some primary parents are unhappy with all the older students mixing unsupervised with the primary children, which may well lead to bullying.)
- Building an 11-18 school extremely close to an existing primary school does not necessarily make it a 5-18 campus as there will be no space for the campus element. Do we need a 5-18 campus anyway? No.
- As the Lochyhill area is zoned for housing and a primary school, there would be the opportunity to create a real, sensibly spaced 5-14 campus there in the future as part of a larger long-term development strategy for the area and for Forres.
- There is no need to risk flooding problems by building on the lowest lying wet ground in the town.
- There is no need for costly and slow High Court proceedings to allow a ‘Land grab’ of Roysvale Park – Common Good Land – for buses. Have the council allowed this process to start before choosing a site?
- There is no need to pay compensation for using the remaining Common Good land as a huge building site for the next 5 years, or more while the old academy building is knocked down. Will the Common Good land ever be reinstated? Very doubtful.
- There is no need to have buses and normal traffic competing with huge construction vehicles on unsuitable roads, causing traffic tailbacks and access problems to the 2 schools during the 5+ years of construction.
- There is no need for our children to be risking walking to school through the heavy site traffic, buses, and other increased traffic for the next 5 years. This will be an unnecessary dangerous situation bound to worry the community.
- There is no need for a ‘split site’ which will put the school car park near the swimming pool, too far from the school building.
- There is no need to take the risk that surrounding properties might suffer damage, either from flooding or subsidence, due to vibrations from heavy traffic. The soil in the area is very sandy. The council could well be involved in costly payments for repairs.
In short, the selection of Lochyhill would provide innumerable benefits and provide a dedicated learning environment that is fit for purpose and future-proofed.
On Behalf of the Forres New Academy Forum.
A community group comprising in excess of 500 members representing interests and concerns of the residents of Forres
Email: forresnewacademyforum@gmail.com
