QUESTIONS have been asked as to how Haddington’s secondary school will cope with a pending housing boom in the town.

At the start of last month, Knox Academy was home to 768 pupils, although the figure has dropped since S6 pupils left.

But that figure is expected to grow over the next decade, with more than 1,000 houses with planning permission to be built.

John Hamilton, one of the town’s community councillors, noted there would be a primary school included within the Letham Mains development, which will include 642 houses and 167 flats.

But he asked if Knox Academy would be able to cope with the projected increase in numbers.

A total of £9,225,154 will go towards the primary school provision, with a further £1,579,500 towards additional secondary school accommodation at Knox Academy.

On top of that, more than £500,000 will go towards the expansion of the Aubigny Sports Centre, with £71,100 towards upgrading works to the path network around Letham Mains.

Pat Lemmon, also one of the town’s community councillors, added: “How Knox Academy expands is going to be interesting.” Since the development at Letham Mains – which is sandwiched between Pencaitland Road and the B6471 – was given the go-ahead, progress has been made on plans for 191 houses on the other side of the B6471.

Persimmon Homes has already started work on 79 houses at Gateside, where 250 jobs are expected to be created.

And it has also been confirmed Persimmon Homes will also be tasked with building 112 homes at the neighbouring site, which was previously home to the former Mitsubishi factory.

Elsewhere in the town, final permission for 109 houses and four flats at Dovecot Farm, to the south of Pencaitland Road, also has the green light, while plans for 89 homes to the north of Haldane Avenue also have approval.

Ward councillor John McMillan was confident that Knox Academy would be ready to deal with any increase in the number of pupils.

He said: “The roll would cope but also there is scope for expansion – really the whole thing is in hand.

“It is certainly something that needs to happen but it is not a problem really in the sense of capacity.” Mr McMillan highlighted that the modern school buildings across the county were of “a very high standard and nobody will let that drop”.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council said: “In the case of the developments in Haddington, contributions are sought towards expansion of both primary and secondary education, which includes Haddington Infant School and Knox Academy.

“The Letham development contributes towards the provision of the new Letham Primary School, as well as the expansion of Knox Academy.

“The sum for Letham is the total amount for primary, secondary, and temporary provision for Letham Primary School to allow some house building to be completed before the new school is ready.

“Contributions have in some instances been sought also for expansion of other infrastructure, e.g. the Aubigny centre and these, together with all other contributions are set out in the planning officers’ report for the relevant developments which are available on the planning website.”