PICTURES: Masterplan lodged for new Charleston Academy and Kinmylies Primary schools

LONG-running plans to replace Charleston Academy and Kinmylies Primary with brand new schools at the academy campus site have passed their latest milestone – after a masterplan for the project was formally lodged.

Highland Council has published its masterplan for the redevelopment of the site after lodging its proposals for the project with its planning department.

A 'planning in principle' application has been submitted, with further applications for full planning permission expected to be lodged in due course in relation to each phase of the project.

Work on the site is expected to be staggered, taking place over nine phases, with each being completed on a rolling basis that will see existing facilities replaced bit by bit to enable the existing schools and community facilities to operate as normal while the work carries on.

The first phase will mark the construction of a new Kinmylies Nursery, which would be accessed via the academy site's existing car park.

The subsequent phases would mark the construction in stages of the new academy and sports facilities, with the existing building then razed to the ground.

The final phases would see the existing primary school move to a new site on the campus, and the existing primary then demolished. The primary's former site would then be landscaped, but would not constitute part of the new campus

Related: Time running out for Inverness residents to have say on replacement Charleston Academy consultation

In supporting documents submitted alongside its masterplan application, the council explained: "The schools need to remain in operation fully during building works. This means that initial phases need to take place on currently vacant ground.

"As the primary school is the last element in the programme, its current site is not an option for alternative use in the short term.

"It is therefore expected that once vacated it will be omitted from the overall school campus and be made available for other uses."

The masterplan follows a second round of consultation with the public. And the council has modified its original proposals in response to the public feedback it received.

In the masterplan's documents, the council revealed that the original proposals would have resulted in the loss of a significant area of public green space next to Charleston View.

But following public concerns over the loss of this green space, the proposals for the new secondary school were changed to raise it from a maximum of three-storeys high, to "in part, up to four storeys in height". The council said: "This helps to minimise its footprint and so the southern end of the building is further north than previous iterations."

They add that some parking in that area "is still necessary... however this is minimised".

"As a result, the existing play area [in the green space] can remain unaffected while the basketball court can be relocated alongside it. This means that the residual community green space is more than three times as much as in the original design."

They add that the new larger academy's location on a lower level than the existing building also means "it will not have a greater visual impact than the existing [one]. It will be substantially screened by mature trees."

The document explains that the part of the new academy which would be four-storeys tall would be in the centre or north of the building, "where its impact is reduced".

As well as the new 'planning in principle' [PIP] application outlining its masterplan, the council's submitted documents reveal that an application for full planning permission for the new nursery is likely to be imminent.

In supporting documents the council explained that its "PIP [for the masterplan] is submitted in parallel with an application for detailed consent for the new Kinmylies Nursery which will form the initial phase of the campus development."

That nursery application was not immediately available on the council's planning web pages at the time of writing, but such remarks suggest they will be available in the very near future.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.