East Renfrewshire Council has granted planning permission for a new Learning Campus, which will bring Neilston and St Thomas' primaries and Madras Family Centre together on a shared site.

Councillors approved the plans at a meeting of the Planning Committee and work will now be progressed to take this exciting project forward.

The schools and family centre will retain their unique identities and teaching spaces, with shared facilities including a large sports hall, Digi-Zone, a dedicated space for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEAM), an art room, and drama and music space.

The new facility will be built on ground within the site of the current Neilston Primary, allowing the existing school to continue running during construction.

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Once the new school and nursery facility is completed, the current Neilston Primary and Madras Family Centre will be demolished to allow an all-weather football pitch and multi-use games area to be created.

Councillor Alan Lafferty, Convener for Education and Equalities, said: "This is another milestone for this exciting project which will provide fantastic benefits for Neilston and beyond. Education is obviously about far more than bricks and mortar, but providing the very best learning environments for our children and young people is certainly an important factor in creating the right atmosphere to challenge their thinking and stretch their imaginations. We've already delivered a number of new school facilities in recent years, and I can't wait to see this latest addition start to take shape."

Following the completion of all work at the Learning Campus site, the current St Thomas' Primary building will be demolished.

As part of a separate phase of regeneration works planned for Neilston, proposals are still being developed to use this site to build a Community and Wellbeing Hub for the village, which would include a new swimming pool.

With the two sites situated closely together, it is hoped that strong links would be developed between the Learning Campus and Community and Wellbeing Hub.