PLANS to replace the existing Galashiels Academy with a new £55m community campus will be recommended for approval next week – despite continued concern over the loss of beloved parkland.

When members of the council’s Planning and Building Standards Committee meet on Monday (September 5) they will be presented with a report from Ian Aikman, the authority’s chief planning and housing officer, recommending approval for a “transformational campus offering open-plan and modern learning environments which will also provide a variety of versatile spaces for use by the whole community”.

If planning permission is granted, work is expected to start during the summer of 2023, with completion in 2025 and demolition works of the existing school to follow.

But the plan to build part of the new community school on an area of Scott Park has angered many townsfolk, concerned at the loss of “cherished green space”.

The council has counter-argued that the project would ultimately open up more parkland for use.

Ahead of next week’s meeting, The Friends of Scott Park group has asked Scottish Government to call in the plans to replace the existing academy.

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It is a move which has alarmed Scottish Borders Council leader and Galashiels councillor Euan Jardine, who fears the project could be delayed by more than a year by the opposition, with the condition of the current school rated as “poor” in a recent study.

In his report, Mr Aikman outlines his reasoning why the chosen location, extending across the existing Galashiels Academy campus, Scott Park to the east, the existing swimming pool site to the north and a strip of woodland on Gala Hill to the south, was the “best option”.

He says: “The proposed development represents a significant investment in the improvement of education and community facilities for the benefit of Galashiels and its surrounding catchment.

“The location of the proposal allows education to continue unimpeded whilst the new facilities are constructed.

“The development also seeks to mitigate its impact on part of Scott Park by providing compensatory greenspace in this location, as well as new sporting facilities. When considered against the wider planning balance, the development has satisfactorily demonstrated that the direct benefits and greenspace mitigation it would provide allows it to represent an exceptional form of development.”

Monday’s meeting is a blended gathering – with representatives able to attend via video-link and in person at council headquarters at Newtown St. Boswell. The public can view proceedings via the council’s live stream link from 10am.