Parents urge council to drop shared school campus bid for good

Parents groups and community leaders have written to all councillors in the Borders urging them to permanently drop plans to move a town's primary onto its secondary campus.

The shared location model being proposed for Eyemouth Primary was halted by education chiefs last December following a backlash from the community.

During consultation events earlier this year, demands increased for a new build replacement primary.

However, a meeting of the local authority on Thursday is being asked to progress both options - the new build and the shared campus.

Proposals for a new primary in the Berwickshire coastal town have been discussed for many years due to the condition of the current building.

It led to plans for a £15m relocation which would have seen the high school "reconfigured and extended" to include the new facility.

The old primary would have been demolished and a new early learning centre built on the site.

Consultation generated hundreds of responses, the "overwhelming majority" of them against that plan.

It prompted the council to "take time to reconsider its approach and intentions".

A fresh report to go before councillors recommends taking forward both options but noted that for either one the costs would now exceed existing budget provision.

It said a new build could be delivered more quickly "but at materially higher cost".

The shared campus would be less costly but take longer to deliver and carry greater "programme, operational and engagement complexity".

For that reason, the council is being advised to keep both options open before committing to either one.

However, parents have written to everyone on the council asking them to drop the shared campus route.

Their letter outlines the "negative outcomes" of adapting a school designed for secondary pupils to accommodate younger children.

They list accessibility, curricular needs and "wellbeing and social pressures" as being among their concerns.

The council is being urged to take those issues on board and "not simply building and budget constraints".

The local authority has said it wants to see the "best possible facility" offered to children in Eyemouth.

A further report on the situation will be brought back in the autumn.