New school needed in Cupar if plans given green light

A report by Fife Council’s Education and Children’s Services concluded that Castlehill Primary School would have to be expanded and a new primary school constructed to deal with an increase in pupils.

It recommends that a gym hall be built at Castlehill PS by 2024, followed by a new half stream primary school by August 2020. That would then be extended into a full-stream primary school by August 2037.

There would also need to be more accommodation for nursery pupils.

It is expected that the Cupar North development will require seven classrooms by 2031, nine classrooms by 2037, and a maximum of 12 classrooms by 2044.

The developers would be required to pay for these developments, with the new school being handed over to Fife Council.

The extension at Castlehill PS is expected to cost around £900,000, while the provision of additional transitional nursery capacity at Westfield Nursery School would cost a further £300,000.

The new primary school and its extension would cost around £8.33 million in total.

The report also highlights concern there might not be enough teaching areas for the number of pupils looking to attend the school in future years.

If the plan gets the green light, it is expected that the pupil roll would jump up by around 200 over the next six years.

The report confirms that the solution of extending Bell Baxter is still the required response to the development. It calls for a review period to be incorporated into the legal agreement.

The Cupar North proposal includes 1480 homes, with, if the plan gets the green light, the first houses constructed by 2021-22. The annual house completion rate is at 10-70 homes.

The development, first mooted more than a decade ago, would be built on a swathe of green belt to the north of the town.