WORK is under way at the Dunfermline Learning Campus, which is expected to cost £220 million and open in the summer of 2024.

The first sod of earth was dug yesterday (Wednesday) at the Halbeath site which will be home to replacement high schools for St Columba's and Woodmill and a new Fife College.

And the 'groundbreaking' ceremony was a chance for pupils, contractors, council officers and councillors to be there at the start of the 'super campus', an idea first put forward in 2014.

Fife Council co-leader, Councillor David Alexander, said: "I’m pleased to be here today, to see how work is progressing and to meet some of the young people who are going to benefit.

"We’re a step closer to a new learning campus in Dunfermline and an asset the whole community can benefit from.”

The schools will have innovative internal spaces; a "pioneering" Learning Lab featuring performance analysis, media studio, recording booth, food technology and extensive creative project space; learning plazas promoting collaboration; breakout booths to allow for individual study; digitally-enabled learning spaces and community facilities.

There will be sports and gym halls, a fitness suite and dance studio as well as five pitches – two grass and three all-weather – outdoor tennis courts and multi-use games areas.

Fellow co-leader, Cllr David Ross, added: "It’s an exciting opportunity for the young people of Fife.

"A shared learning campus opens many different routes for our young people by improving attainment, employability skills and positive destinations.”

The college is expected to cost £100m and the Scottish Government is providing the funding.

However, the schools are being paid for under a different model, which will see the council pay the full capital costs and the Government picking up the bills for ongoing maintenance.

In December, the council said the cost of the schools element had already gone up, by £11m, to £122m.

The council's capital plan 2021-31 set aside £202m for secondary schools in West Fife but that also includes the replacement of Inverkeithing High, which will be built in Rosyth at an estimated cost of £70m, and improvements at Dunfermline High and Queen Anne.

The council is working in partnership with Fife College and the Scottish Government to create the new campus.

Cllr Craig Walker, convener of the education and children's services committee, said the partnership "will bring a new learning approach to Fife that will benefit our young people now and for generations to come”.

He said they would deliver "modern, fit-for-purpose and low-carbon facilities" and added: "The schools will accommodate up to 2,700 students and are being designed to give flexibility in the delivery of the curriculum all whilst retaining the individual school identities."

The project is being procured and managed for the council by hub East Central Scotland, a public/private partnership organisation delivering new community infrastructure.

Locals will have noticed that BAM Construction, the project contractors, had already started enabling works on site but shovels were at the ready yesterday for the symbolic beginning of what will be a huge development.

The campus will be 58 acres in size and there are also separate plans for the wider Shepherd Offshore site.

They include 225 houses, a nursery, a care home, assisted living apartments, a pub/restaurant, coffee shop drive-thru and petrol station.