THE new £18.9 million Wallyford Primary School is on target for completion in January – with Musselburgh’s new £34m secondary school planned for delivery in 2022, as major house-building in the area continues.

The primary school, situated on the outskirts of the village on Future’s Way at the St Clements Wells development, will be fitted out by East Lothian Council once it is finished.

It will replace the existing Wallyford Primary School on Salters Road.

Plans to provide a second high school for the Musselburgh area, to the north of the new primary school within the new housing development at Wallyford, are in place. The council is now moving forward to secure the land on which it will be built now that the East Lothian Local Development Plan 2018 has been adopted.

The new school will take pupils from the Pinkie area of Musselburgh as well as Wallyford, with the existing Musselburgh Grammar School accommodating youngsters from the rest of the community, including Whitecraig.

The new school was originally expected to begin taking in pupils from August 2020, or as soon as possible after that date, but a year ago this was put back to 2022.

A council spokesperson said: “The new primary school building will provide additional primary and pre-school capacity for committed new housing development.

“It also includes resources for wider use by the community and has been designed to provide access to the library, sports and other non-teaching facilities.”

The school project has received a £4.5 million grant from the Scottish Government’s Schools for the Future scheme.

The council spokesperson said: “The staff team at Wallyford Primary School have been touring the site to get a sense of the new building.

“Feedback has been positive, with all staff looking forward to the move.

“Pupils and staff have been involved in the design process. Most recently the pupil council discussed the outdoor landscaping and play areas with a member of the project team.”

The two new schools come amidst construction of 2,050 new houses in the Wallyford area, as the council is minded to grant planning permission for another 600 homes at Dolphingstone to the east of the existing site, subject to conclusion of the relevant legal agreements.

The council spokesperson said: “New housing at Wallyford is progressing in line with the local plan.

“Housing development in the area includes delivery of additional new affordable homes.

“It is encouraging to see new homes being occupied and the first residents moving in.”

East Lothian Developments Limited has been “delighted” to see residents move in to the Persimmon Homes site and Cruden Homes affordable site at St Clements Wells during 2018.

January is expected to see the first residents move in to the Barratt Homes site at St Clements Wells just ahead of the completion of the new primary school.

East Lothian Developments Limited hopes to have even more homes completed and occupied in 2019 but says it has concerns that the council will not be able to keep up with “these ambitious plans” due to delays with progressing the new secondary school site and the provision of further affordable housing.

The company told the Courier that the “crucial” new secondary school was due for completion under the recently approved Local Development Plan in 2021 in order to facilitate the housing that was “so urgently needed” in the Musselburgh cluster.

Jim Aitken, director of East Lothian Developments Limited, said: “Finally we have significant momentum in terms of the delivery of housing and facilities on the St Clements Wells site and we will do all in our power to keep the council moving forward so we can complete what the community have long been waiting for.”

The council spokesperson added: “As indicated to parent councils, the new secondary school is planned for delivery in 2022. Both new schools will be fantastic assets for children and young people living locally.

“The secondary school is required to support the level of growth that is projected to come forward, and is directly linked to the delivery of new housing on the ground. The St Clements Wells site is an important component of that forecasted growth.

“The approved phasing plan envisaged that the developer could deliver 240 new homes at the St Clements site by March 2018. Forty-four homes had been completed by this point. Other housebuilding is now taking place on-site and the council is encouraged that East Lothian Developments feel that they now have more delivery momentum.

“East Lothian Developments Limited will need to continue to engage with the council to agree an affordable housing delivery plan. This is a key requirement of the planning permission that they received for the St Clements Wells site.

“As development continues we will, of course, keep the local community updated on the progress of these schools.

“The new secondary school will include all the core facilities associated with a modern secondary school for the wide range of curriculum areas.”