UPDATE 30 January: The committee agreed to the recommendation. You can watch the discussion on the council website (Item 7) at https://aberdeenshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/468426 ____________________________________________________________

On Thursday councillors on Aberdeenshire Council’s education and children’s services committee will be asked to approve a statutory consultation to rezone an area of Hillside to Fishermoss or Portlethen primaries. This follows a conditional approval of a planning application for 175 houses.

A statutory consultation would take place with local stakeholders (parent councils, parents, pupils, staff and local communities), from 10 February until 27 March in respect of the Hillside School catchment area. A public meeting would be held to discuss the proposal on 5 March in Hillside School at 7pm.

If the consultation goes ahead the committee would receive a further report on the outcomes of the consultation in August.

The proposed rezoning is prompted by an planning application from Stewart Milne for a further 175 houses to the east of Hillside School in gap sites.

The Education & Children Services’ response to the planning application was to object to the proposed development and highlight that, in order to address this, any additional housing built in the Hillside catchment area (as shown on the map below) will be subject to a rezoning exercise.

The rezoning will be required to rezone the houses in this application to either Portlethen Primary School or Fishermoss School. Pupils living directly opposite Hillside School in the new housing development would not be able to attend their closest school. Instead, they would have a short journey to school of less than two miles.

Children from existing houses will not be affected.

The report from officers say that if a rezoning consultation goes ahead and the proposals implemented, then the Education & Children’s Service may be able to remove its objection to this planning application.

If a rezoning is unsuccessful, then Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee will re determine the planning application.

The full report to Thursday’s meeting (item 7) can be read at http://committees.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/committees.aspx?commid=494&meetid=19406

The map shows the catchment areas for Fishermoss School, Hillside School and Portlethen Primary School, with the Leathen Fields site highlighted.