Skatepark may be built at current Forres Academy site
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A SKATEPARK – plus an artificial football pitch and outdoor gym – may be built on the current site of Forres Academy if it gets knocked down.
A local group wants a 25-year rent-free lease from Moray Council to build a skatepark for the town's young people in a section of Grant Park.
However it decided at yesterday's meeting of Moray Council to investigate whether the school would be a better site.
Parts of Forres Academy are now shut after faulty RAAC concrete was found.
Even before that discovery, a new replacement secondary school for Forres was already the council's top educational priority.
Yesterday's meeting heard that this has now been "accelerated".
Councillor Scott Lawrence (Forres, SNP) stated that although the skate park could go in Grant Park, the current Forres Academy site might make a viable alternative.
He said: "The community asset transfer in Grant Park proposed by the Forres Skate Park Initiative would be the first step in what could be a long and protracted process.
"And that could end up without there being a skatepark facility in Forres.
"By looking at the viability of an outdoor multi-sport facility in the current Forres academy grounds, it makes the likelihood of a skatepark greater.
"In addition it also gives an option for the provision of a 3G pitch and outdoor gym, as well other outdoor facilities."
Moray Council is currently carrying out what it calls 'a learning estate review' in Forres.
This could either mean a replacement secondary school or, potentially, a 'campus site' which would cater for pupils aged from three all the way up to 18.
Last week the council gave the go-ahead to start creating a business case in order to attract funding from the Scottish Government for one or the other.
Cllr Lawrence's proposal to look at the current academy site was backed by all his colleagues at yesterday's meeting.
He said: "As councillors we're often accused of not having joined-up thinking. I believe this is an opportunity to take a step back and look at other development possibilities in Forres."
Seconding this stance, cllr Paul McBain (Forres, Conseravtive) said: "There's been a lot of work by the Forres Skate Park Initiative.
"But I think it's important that we hold back just for a time to see what is the outcome of the learning estate review."
A skatepark existed beside Forres Academy from 2002-06, which was leased to a skateboarding club.
It was closed following claims it was used as a hang-out for youngsters playing truant.
