Fife Council will build school at Admiralty Park in Rosyth

Councillors approved the application for a three storey building at Admiralty Park which will be able to accommodate 1,735 pupils and 159 staff when it opens in August 2026.

It will replace the "crumbling" Inverkeithing High which is rated the worst school in Fife for accessibility and in poor condition.

The Rosyth site is around 12 hectares in size with the A985 road to the north, housing to the south, the Fleet Grounds and farmland to the west and the Admiralty Park industrial estate to the east.

The name has not yet been chosen but this is an artist's impression of the new high school to be built in Rosyth. (Image: Fife Council)

At the west and central planning committee, there was still some reluctance on the part of councillors representing Inverkeithing to accept the loss of the school and umbrage taken at the suggestion it won't affect the town.

Committee convener Cllr David Barratt, who represents the Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay ward, echoed points made by Cllr Dave Dempsey and added that the plans are contrary to three council policies.

Cllr Barratt said: "I think there's a line in the report that says the loss of the existing school from its current site wouldn't have an impact on Inverkeithing.

"If you were to walk through Inverkeithing on a school day at lunchtime and ask any of the businesses who serve school pupils, you would come to a very different conclusion.

"I think the impact will be considerable."

He added: "Ultimately, where we are now it's necessary to continue as a new school is desperately needed and to refuse it at this stage would result in many years delay.

"As a result I think it is justified as essential infrastructure and it outweighs those areas that are contrary."

Looking east towards Rosyth and the site of the new high school in the foreground. (Image: Fife Council)The council said they looked at 27 sites before choosing the location in Rosyth in November 2020.

There were five letters of objection to the planning application, two letters of support and two that raised general queries.

Concerns included noise and the impact on traffic, parking problems, road safety and the poor condition of the footpaths from King's Road to Admiralty Park.

More objections were raised at an earlier stage in the process, with most of the parents and carers who responded to a consultation opposing the move to Rosyth. 

The cabinet committee backed the move in September last year.

The high school building will be 17,000 square metres and located in the northern section of the site, adjacent to the A985 trunk road, with an external courtyard on the west side for outdoor learning.

A "projecting feature" is proposed on the front at second floor level and there will be a large canopy to the rear.

Between the road and school will be a car park with 159 spaces, 16 electric vehicle charging points, a drop-off layby and 16 bays for coaches.

Vehicle access will be from Caledonia Heights.

Another image of what the replacement for Inverkeithing High School will look like. (Image: Fife Council)To the south of the building will be two multi-use games areas, two all-weather astroturf pitches and three grass pitches, which will be available for community use outwith school hours.

There is already an existing astroturf football pitch - used by the Rosyth FC youth teams - in the southern portion of the site.

Within the school grounds there will be a play area with seating areas, outdoor table tennis and a basketball court, and a community garden with growing areas and a greenhouse.

Plans also include a "supported learning provision" garden with a sensory area, seating, picnic benches, pergola, trike track, informal games area and storage shed. Fencing 1.5 metres in height will be installed around the boundary of the school site, rising up to seven metres at the sports pitches.

To enable the new school to be built, a section of the Fife Coastal Path will be diverted.

To compensate for the loss of 4.26 hectares of employment land - Scottish Enterprise have tried without success to market the site for 15 years - a commuted sum of £1m will be used to "help deliver other employment land allocations and development in the Rosyth area".