Friday November 28th 2025
Eyemouth Primary School
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
It’s back to the drawing board over plans for the relocation of a Borders school with people power poised to force a U-turn.
A public consultation over a proposal for Eyemouth Primary School to move into the town’s high school looks likely to be put on hold due to “significant community opposition”.
When members of Scottish Borders Council meet on Thursday, December 4, they will be recommended to withdraw the consultation proposals for a re-think.
Hundreds of responses have been received since the consultation was launched in October with the “overwhelming majority” of these not being supportive.
The latest plan was for a £15m relocation which would have seen the high school “reconfigured and extended” to include the new facility.
The old primary would have been demolished and a new early learning centre built on the site.
Among the issues raised were the ability of the area to cope with increased numbers of pupils and staff and also safeguarding concerns about having such a wide age range at the same site.
The plan now is to “reconsider the approach” and bring new proposals before elected members at a future date.
East Berwickshire Independent councillor James Anderson welcomed the move and said it gave parents and carers some reassurance that their views were being listened to.
He said: “SBC have started to listen to the concerns raised and, as I had hoped, are taking a step back, taking a breath, and considering how we can work together on the best plan for our new primary school.
“This is a real opportunity to be part of an exciting time for our children’s education, but we must move forward together.”
Mr Anderson hopes to see the creation of a working group made up of community leaders and committee chairs to “move forward collectively”.
He added: “It is abundantly clear that our community wants and deserves full involvement in this project, and we must make that happen.
“My thanks to SBC officers for their frank discussions recently and for taking the correct decision to apply the brakes at this stage. I am sure the decision was not easy when they are so invested in delivering a project, but this time the offering was not right.”
Councillor Julie Pirone, SBC’s executive member for Education, Youth Development and Lifelong Learning, said: “The council has already received hundreds of responses from the local community and parents raising concerns around the current proposals for the relocation of Eyemouth Primary School, since the consultation started in October.
“We have now taken time to reflect on the responses received to date and recognise the overwhelming majority of respondents are not supportive of the proposals. I believe that because of this, the statutory consultation on the relocation should be ended. I also know that local members support this viewpoint.
“SBC has an extremely strong track record of prioritising investment in its school estate to deliver high-quality, modern, fit for purpose facilities that provide the very best education for our children and young people, and I still want to see the best possible facility offered to the children of Eyemouth.”
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