TWO primary schools costing a total of nearly £50 million should welcome their first pupils next year.

New schools at Craighall and Blindwells are being created in response to housebuilding developments in the area.

Each school will have places for up to 420 children and an early learning and childcare centre offering 100 places for pupils aged two to five.

East Lothian Council has appointed Hub South East to deliver the projects.

Councillor Fiona Dugdale, cabinet member for education and children’s and family services, welcomed the latest development.

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She said: “We have an established and positive working relationship with Hub South East.

“This has brought benefits in the delivery of multi-million-pound capital projects, most recently Wallyford Learning Campus, within a volatile construction market environment.”

Development partner Hub South East has worked on a number of school capital projects for East Lothian Council.

The company was appointed for the design and development phase of the project and has now been confirmed to take the scheme forward through construction to completion.

East Lothian Council’s in-house project team worked closely with Hub South East to create “an exciting design concept”.

 

 

Balfour Beatty has been appointed as main contractor for the projects.

Construction is due to begin in February for completion in late spring next year.

jmarchitects, which also worked on Wallyford Learning Campus, has designed the buildings.

Project costs for both schools are estimated at £49.6 million.

Ms Dugdale said: “This is the first time we have worked with Balfour Beatty on a school new-build.

“They join an experienced and professional team of council officers, project managers and architects with a proven track record of delivering excellent learning spaces.

“I look forward to seeing both projects progress, as I’m sure the families living and moving into the catchment areas will too.”

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The primary schools are required to meet demand from ongoing and planned housebuilding in the areas.

Permission has been granted for 1,600 homes at Blindwells as part of a new town development, while the East Lothian Local Development Plan allocates land at Craighall for a mixed-use development, including 1,500 homes.

Both developments were given planning permission towards the end of 2022.

Andrew Thornton, Hub South East’s projects director, said: “We’re proud to have been entrusted to deliver the new Craighall and Blindwells Primary Schools, continuing our successful working relationship as East Lothian Council’s development partner.

“The designs for these exciting new schools have been developed using Passivhaus principles, so pupils and staff will not only benefit from modern new learning spaces, the buildings themselves will be energy efficient and will assist our client in meeting progressive Scottish Government environmental targets.

“We look forward to working with our main contractor Balfour Beatty, for their first project since joining our supply chain, to make these plans a reality as we progress into the construction phase.”