Lenzie Academy rebuild

Lenzie Academy remains East Dunbartonshire’s only legacy secondary school and has been identified by Officers as a strategic priority for renewal through the Council’s Capital Investment Plan.

In February 2021, Council instructed Officers to progress a feasibility study for the development of a new secondary school to replace the existing Lenzie Academy.

A total of 11 potential site options were explored, including the refurbishment of the existing building and development of a new school building on the existing school site at Myrtle Avenue. Amongst other factors, the feasibility study considered the anticipated costs of construction for a replacement school, construction programme/logistics and the costs/benefits of developing the new school on the basis of low carbon design principles.

In September 2022, Council considered and approved the Feasibility Report which recommended the preferred development site as Whitegates Park, Lenzie. The report was considered in private due to some shortlisted options requiring the need for potential future acquisition of third-party land. As part of the same report, Council approved the submission of a funding application to the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), which was made in October 2022.

The funding decision from the Scottish Government was received in October 2023 and the Council was notified of its successful submission.

The project restarted in December 2023, with early activities including consultation with the school and Council teams, developing concept design proposals and completing early site surveys at Whitegates Park.

The aims of this project are:

• To create a modern secondary school to replace the existing Lenzie Academy, based on a pupil roll of 1400 (to match existing)
• To minimise the carbon impact of the development across the full project lifecycle
• To ensure the design and build comply with any approved external funding requirements
• To demolish the existing school at Myrtle Avenue including any remediation of the site for potential community use
• To develop and deliver an open space mitigation strategy as part of any planning application.

FAQs based on common questions and Freedom of Information requests received about the project have been created.

Lenzie Academy Rebuild FAQs

The project is nearing completion of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Stage 2 activities, with outline design work (including determining the number of rooms, sizes and arrangement required within the new school) and site layout within Whitegates Park complete.

The next design stage (RIBA Stage 3) for the project is expected to commence during Summer 2024 and will involve further development of plans for the building itself and more detailed proposals for how the site will be arranged within Whitegates Park.

RIBA Plan of Work

The full design process of the new school is anticipated to take 12 months from Summer 2024.

As a minimum, the Council is required to undertake two separate in-person events ahead of the submission of the project planning application.

Dates for these will be confirmed and communicated in due course, with the first event expected before end September 2024.

In addition to these events, themed workshop sessions will be held with identified local community groups to discuss key issues for consideration in the design of the new school.

Regular project updates, including design proposals when available, will be uploaded to this page.

Ahead of consultation on the development proposals, the Council’s Education Service is undertaking a separate consultation exercise on the educational merits of moving the school from its current location at Myrtle Avenue to the proposed site at Whitegates Park.

The Education consultation is purely focussed on whether there are educational opportunities or disadvantages in moving the school from its existing accommodation at Myrtle Avenue and will not consider the building design of the new school or any site-specific issues.

This is a statutory consultation which local authorities are obliged to undertake where the location of a school is changing. The consultation launched in May 2024 and will close on 23 August 2024. Following the consultation period, a Report of Consultation will be submitted to Council for approval (anticipated September 2024).

As project developer, the Council requires to adhere to the same process and standards as any third-party developer with regards to the statutory planning process.

Due to the size of the Whitegates Park site, the project is categorised as a Major Development under planning legislation.

Due to the Major Development status, the Council as the applicant, is required to undertake two in-person community engagement events in relation to the design of the new school and submit a subsequent pre-application report.

The exact dates for submission of the planning application will be dependent on progress through the next stage of design development for the project, however, it is currently anticipated late 2024/early 2025.

Submission dates will be widely publicised by the Council and letters will be sent to immediate neighbours of the site. The full planning application will be available to view on the Council’s Planning Portal once the planning application has been submitted to the Planning Authority.

The project has been successful in being awarded funding via the Scottish Future Trust’s Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP).

Information on LEIP Funding

LEIP funding will provide a contribution towards the total development costs of the project, which is condition-related, providing the building achieves specific environmental and energy performance measures over its lifespan.

The balance of funding needed for the project will require to be obtained by East Dunbartonshire Council in order to develop a new school facility.

Key Documents for Download

• ASN school feasibility report (Whitegates)
• The Ecology Survey Report
• Strategic Education Brief
• Site Investigation (SI) report & Contaminants identified

This feasibility exercise was undertaken in September 2018 and is provided for reference. Pages 31-46 of the feasibility report for what is now Woodland View School, provides an assessment of the Whitegates Park site.

LEIP application

Fundamental to this project was the LEIP application, which was developed to a very high standard, ultimately leading to the Council being awarded substantial funding from the Scottish Government. This application was submitted to the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) as part of the overall LEIP submission in October 2022.

The Council has undertaken initial surveys of the Whitegates Park site, consisting of Ecological and Ground Investigations.

Initial site investigations were completed in July 2018 and page 4 of the report shows the extent of the surveys undertaken across the site. This report also includes a desktop study and references soil quality, historical maps of the area, coal mining report, SEPA flood maps and invasive species.

The ecology survey was completed in September 2018. The report includes survey results and evaluation which are located on pages 11-19. Page 20 provides recommendations and mitigation for any planned site works at Whitegates Park.

For planning queries, the Council will advise in due course the details of public engagement events, giving the community an opportunity to see the proposals and to provide comments, which will be included as part of the planning process.