Orkney Islands Council has awarded Orkney Builders (Contractors) Ltd the £2.65 million contract to build a new nursery at Orkney College.

The 14-month project will see a new build nursery located next to the College campus. The location lends itself well to opportunities to support Childhood Practice Students as they develop their skills, therefore supporting a key sector which has had recruitment challenges.

The total project cost of £3.12 million includes land and professional and statutory fees. The Council was successful in being awarded £1.683 million from the Scottish Government as part of the Islands Programme, which supports the implementation of the 2019 National Islands Plan helping to make the Scottish islands even better places to live, study, work and raise a family.

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Six island local authorities, including Orkney, received a share of around £4.5 million to assist critical projects.

It is planned that works will begin on site in around four weeks.

The new-build facility will save around 20 tonnes of CO2 in moving the nursery service from the old 1960 CLASP building to the new highly insulated building.

OIC Chair of the Education, Housing and Leisure Committee, Councillor Gwenda Shearer, said: "I very much welcome news of the contract award – this is a vital service for the community and great news for a local company during these challenging times.

"The new facility will make an enormous difference locally and we are looking forward to progressing the project with this latest step."