Future of primary school put on hold due to coronavirus

Gartly primary was temporarily closed in December 2018 after an oil leak contaminated the site.

The fate of a Marr primary school will be decided at a later date due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Gartly primary school, near Huntly, was temporarily closed in December 2018 following an oil leak which contaminated the site.

Repair work at a cost of more than £450,000 has since been carried out but the school remains closed.

Yesterday, members of the Marr Area Committee were due to discuss the next steps to be taken at the site.

However they recommended that the Education and Children’s Services Committee defer a decision on works at the school until the current restrictions put in place to tackle the coronavirus outbreak are lifted.

Council officers will continue to provide updates to both committees and no further work on the school site will take place at this time.

Following the school closure, pupils were relocated to Kennethmonth primary school while nursery pupils have attended Rhynie primary school.

Gartly primary could be reopened in the future following further improvement works, estimated to cost £872,000.

After discussing the matter with NHS Grampian Health Protection Scotland as well as Environmental Health and Education colleagues, council officers concluded that the best solution would include partial demolition of the school followed by rebuilding.

Consultation with parents of children at Gartly school have voiced their support of the remediation work stating that it would be “beneficial” for youngsters to have the school reinstated.

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