A new Community Education Campus is to be created in Maybole as hub South West reach financial close on the £55 million project.

The new campus, which will be built on the site of the existing Carrick Academy, will incorporate a new Academy, with St Cuthbert's Primary and a new non-denominational primary school that will be formed by amalgamating Cairn and Gardenrose Primary schools.

Alongside Early Years provision, operating 52 weeks of the year, the campus will have capacity for 1,370 students. It will also appeal to the wider community, with sporting facilities including outdoor sports facilities with two sports pitches and a new swimming pool which will be available for public use.

Work has already started to create the first of two all-weather pitches at the campus, planned as part of South Ayrshire Council's project and backs-up its promise that every child and young person in the area will have the best education they possibly can.

The Maybole Community Campus is being funded through the government's Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), aimed at delivering world-class, digitally enabled learning environments designed with communities at their heart.

As part of the LEIP programme, the project will also meet an ambitious and upgraded government standard for annual energy efficiency of only 67 kWh per square metre. Once complete, Maybole Community Campus will feature renewable energy sources including wind turbines and photovoltaic solar panels to exceed carbon neutral.

-- Advertisement --

Outside will be all-weather play spaces and multi-use games (MUGA) pitches for sports lessons. There will also be a car park with 133 spaces including 69 drop-off spots; eight coach bays; four minibus bays; and four electric car parking spaces.

Councillor William Grant, children and young people portfolio holder for South Ayrshire Council, said: "Planning approval makes the Maybole Community Campus a reality, and I am delighted that this takes us one step forward to making Maybole a better place to live. This project is a fine example of our continued commitment to learning and helping to close the attainment gap.

"It is our biggest school project to date, and together with the new by-pass and planned regeneration of the high street, will help to completely transform the town."

Michael McBrearty, hub South West Chief Executive, said: "It is a tremendous privilege to be part of the team bringing this wonderful new facility to the community in Maybole.

"From 2023, local people will be the beneficiaries of a wise investment by South Ayrshire Council which will provide an enhanced standard of living to generations yet to be born."

Morgan Sindall Construction was appointed via hub South West in 2019 to build both the Maybole Community Campus and Prestwick Educational Campus, with architects BDP appointed to lead the design team.

Stuart Parker, managing director for Morgan Sindall Construction Scotland, said: "We are thrilled to be working with South Ayrshire Council and hub South West on another development that will do so much to support not just the educational prospects of young people within Maybole, but the wellbeing of town as a whole.

"The hub South West framework is aimed at creating a positive social impact for the region and we look forward to working with our project partners to ensure our work programme at Maybole – in tandem with our delivery of Prestwick Educational Campus - brings significant social, economic and environmental benefits to the local area."

hub South West is the public-private partnership of local authorities, NHS, blue light services and a number of leading construction industry contractors.