Fife Council: Opposition to new £85m high school in Rosyth

Between April and June Fife Council asked the public for their views on the proposal to build a new £85 million facility at the Fleet Grounds, replacing the crumbling 50-year-old buildings off Hillend Road.

The results are in and out of 216 people who filled in the consultation form, 141 were against (65.3 per cent), 64 supported it (29.6 per cent) and 11 said they 'don't know'. A council report admitted: "The majority of respondents were not in favour of the proposal."

Inverkeithing is rated as the worst high school in Fife for accessibility, rated D, while its condition is C due to "major defects".

Plans have been submitted for a new high school to be built in Rosyth. (Image: Fife Council)

It's accepted that a modern replacement is needed but it's the location – the Fleet Grounds was chosen over a site across from the current school in November 2020 – that has proved contentious.

The response from one parent said: "Fife Council has picked the site that many do not want.

"The decision does not seem to have been made on a geographical or democratic basis."

While Fife education chiefs have previously pointed out that it tends to be the people who oppose a proposal that bother to respond and give their views, the objectors have raised legitimate concerns about a new high school at that location in Rosyth.

Key issues include road safety, traffic congestion, 'dangerous' walking routes, the possible loss of the swimming pool and community-use facilities in Inverkeithing, impact on local businesses and longer journeys.

However, one of the parents argued: "A replacement school should be in the same town (Inverkeithing) and should have been across the main road from the current site.

"This new site is 3.5 miles away from our home.

"So our kids can’t walk to the school and there will be no safe cycle route either.

"Traffic will be chaos. Any staff travelling by train will have a LONG walk from Rosyth train station too."

At one consultation meeting, angry parents and carers complained that the council had "no plan B" and the proposal was driven by cost rather than the views of the community and what was best for the children and staff.

Planning permission and the backing of councillors have still to be confirmed and Shelagh McLean, head of education and children's services, admitted that if the proposals for the Fleet Grounds are not approved there is no chance of a new school being delivered by August 2026.

Plans for the as yet unnamed new high school say it will accommodate a maximum of 1,735 pupils.

Perhaps not surprisingly, almost all of the responses of parents and carers with children at nursery or primary school in Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay were opposed to the move.

One objector said: "The school is at the heart of Inverkeithing, which in turn is at the heart of the catchment area.

"To rip it out would rip out the heart of the community."

On the other hand, those with kids at schools in Rosyth were all for it.

However the site will be accessed from a busy trunk road, the A985, which has prompted safety concerns for kids trying to cross the road, as well as those who walk or cycle to school, and the increase in traffic, exhaust fumes and air pollution.

One parent complained: "There is no safe way for pupils to walk from Aberdour, Dalgety Bay or Inverkeithing without crossing major roads, including motorway slip roads."

Another opponent said the Fleet Grounds was at the western edge of the catchment and added: " It will also mean that hundreds more pupils will not be able to walk to school which, given Scottish Government priorities on health, including child healthy weight, is unacceptable."

There is at least history on Rosyth's side. Prior to the school opening in Inverkeithing, Kings Road was the main secondary for the area from 1918 until 1973.

And a council report said that 72 per cent of primary pupils and 76 per cent of high school kids backed the move to the Fleet Grounds.