Plans for additional primary school for village approved

Plans for a new primary school to cater for Bishopton’s Dargavel Village – needed to address a capacity debacle – have been given the green light.

The 800-pupil facility will be built on land at the far end of Craigton Drive in the major housing development and is due to open by August 2027.

Renfrewshire Council submitted its bid for planning permission for the three-storey building with sports and assembly halls, parking and drop-off provision, a full-size 3G pitch and multi-use games area in December.

And the application was approved, subject to a number of conditions, during a meeting of the planning and climate change policy board on Tuesday afternoon.

Last year, the council held two public events as part of a 12-week pre-planning engagement period, at which it presented draft designs and sought feedback from the community. This was then considered and factored into the application.

The new school, which previous estimates said could cost in the region of £45 million, was required after historic errors saw the existing school in Arrochar Drive, open since January 2022, built far smaller than it needed to be.

A report by the chief planning officer, which was considered by councillors this week, said: “The requirement for an additional primary school to serve Dargavel Village was identified by the council after it had been established that capacity at the current Dargavel Primary School would be insufficient to accommodate the pupil yield expected from the Dargavel Village development.”

It was agreed the local authority should move forward with the plans to build the additional school at the Craigton Drive site almost a year ago.

The findings of a statutory consultation process were considered by elected members on the education and children’s services policy board in late May.

The specific location had divided opinion among more than 800 people who responded to a survey – with 331 opposed to the suggested site (40.6 per cent) and 323 in favour of it (39.6 per cent).

Meanwhile, a report to the same board last week confirmed the project to deliver the new school is “on track” for a 2027 construction completion.