Formal Consultation on the proposal to establish a new Secondary School at Bertha Park, Perth

Perth and Kinross is one of the fastest growing areas of Scotland. This requires the provision of services in appropriate locations to meet the increasing needs of the expanding population, resulting in the requirement to invest in new infrastructure, including schools.

The Lifelong Learning Executive Sub-Committee on 6 February 2013 approved Report No 13/67 (PDF, 607 KB) to accept funding from the Scottish Government's Schools for the Future (SfT) initiative for a new secondary school in Perth.

A projected rise in pupil numbers, combined with the findings of the Council's options appraisal, informed Report No 14/93 (PDF, 1 MB) which was approved by Perth and Kinross Council on 7 May 2014.  The report proposed the establishment of a catchment area for the new secondary school at Bertha Park, Perth, and that a further report be submitted to the Committee in June 2014 proposing that Statutory Consultation is undertaken in relation to this.

As a result, Report No 14/298 (PDF, 4 MB) presented a Proposal Paper to a Special Lifelong Learning Committee on 25 June 2014.  The Committee approved to commence formal consultation on the proposal to establish a new secondary school at Bertha Park, Perth, as well as associated proposals to establish a new catchment area for the school and transfer arrangements for primary pupils.  This was undertaken in line with the requirements of the School (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

The consultation period ran from Thursday 11 September 2014 until Wednesday 19 November 2014.

A Public Notice (PDF, 33 KB) was placed in the local press.

Public Meetings

Eight public meetings were held to discuss the proposals and the Proposal Paper (PDF, 728 KB).  The meetings were an opportunity for interested parties to:

• Hear more about the proposals;
• Ask questions about the proposals; and
• Have their views recorded so that they could be taken into account as part of the consultation process.

Anyone wishing to attend was welcome to do so.  To ensure attendee numbers could be managed at each venue, places can be booked by phoning 01738 476218.

The public meetings were held as follows:

Publication of Consultation Report

The next stage of the consultation process was the publication of the report on the outcome and findings of the Statutory Consultation.  The consultation report (PDF, 753 KB) was published from Wednesday 3 June 2015 until Wednesday 15 July 2015.  This allowed for more than the full three week review of the document prior to a final Lifelong Learning Committee decision, and complies with Section 9 (3) and Section 11 of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act  2010, as amended.

Update on New Secondary School Project

It was announced at the Lifelong Learning Committee on 26 August 2015 that a decision has been taken to re-phase the new secondary school project. The new school is now planned to open in August 2019. The decision to re-phase the project was taken due to a number of factors outwith the Council's control.

The feedback received during the consultation period remains valid and has been invaluable in influencing the final proposals. The Council is engaging directly with those parents who will now be directly affected by the change of date. One way the Council has done this is by holding meetings with those parents, the details of which are as follows:

A Public Notice (PDF, 237 KB) was been placed in the local press.

The Council sought feedback on the revised Transition Arrangements (PDF, 91 KB) and comments were to be submitted by Friday 9 October 2015.

The statutory consultation process was concluded with a final report which was approved by Lifelong Learning Committee on Wednesday 4 November 2015 (Report No 15/515 (PDF, 181 KB)) refers.

Further information is available by contacting:

The Schools Consultations Team
Tel: 01738 476218
Email: ECSStatutoryConsultations@pkc.gov.uk (please indicate New Secondary School in the email subject header)