A £30 million project which would see almost half of a West Lothian school demolished and rebuilt has been put forward as the fastest and cheapest option to tackle crumbling concrete in the building.West Lothian Council's Executive has backed plans which could see the council asking the Scottish Government to meet a third of the projected £30m bill to replace the CDT block at St Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn after aerated concrete, known as RAAC, or Siporex, was found in roof panels.The school has already had to decant pupils and staff following the discovery earlier this year of faulty roof panels.Now officials say the best option for the school, which counts Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle and chart topper Lewis Capaldi as former pupils, is to knock down and start again to give the build another 50 years.Director of Finance Donald Forrest told councillors that demolition and reconstruction was the preferred option as it was cheaper and work could be done faster.
The report suggested that option would cost £30m and be completed in three years, as opposed to stripping out the RAAC panels and replacing them which would cost £35m and take four years.The bill would use £20m of council funding including reserves set aside to deal with RAAC and still leave a shortfall of £10m.
There are additional costs of £300,000 which will cover the extended use of temporary classrooms for another 12 months. Included in all costs are the cost of temporary decants.In his report to the Executive Mr Forrest said: "All programme time-scales are based on an approval for a specific option at Council Executive on 3 October 2023 with certain activities tied to school holiday periods.
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