Championing the case for a new high school, three local councillors described Friday’s meeting with Scottish Government officials as “informative and encouraging”.
Councillors Watson McAteer, Clair Ramage and Stuart Marshall were joined by local MSP and Scottish Government Minister Paul Wheelhouse at the Scottish Government Victoria Quay Edinburgh offices.
The meeting followed an invitation from John Swinney the SNP Cabinet Minister for Education and Skills.
Unhappy with Scottish Borders Council’s November 2018 decision to place Galashiels ahead of Hawick for a new secondary school, all emerged “enthuasistic” from the meeting, describing it as “very informative and encouraging”.
The visitors had an opportunity to express a vision for Hawick that may include creating a community hub with innovative digital technology as well as an enterprising and commercial centre and new sporting and leisure facilities.
Key sites include Burnfoot, in the area between Galalaw and Henderson Road, and at Stirches between St Andrew’s Home and Guthrie Drive.
The existing high school site remains viable although it is understood the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is likely to demand any new build complies with a one-in-200 years major flooding event – a stipulation unlikely to be met without far-reaching costs involved raising the base height of the building.
Councillor McAteer said: “It is vital we explore every possible option to bring about a new high school as soon as possible.
“We were specifically exploring whether or not Galashiels and Hawick could be considered as a ‘joint’ project that could be delivered simultaneously, capitalising on economies of scale, reducing timescales and ultimately delivering much-needed new schools to both communities. We were told this is possible but SBC need to take the initiative – a course of action we will pursue.”
Councillor Ramage shared her 40-years-plus teaching experience at the high school.
“They were interested to hear little has changed to the school infrastructure and just how much it costs to keep the buildings wind and water tight.
“It was clear Hawick very much fits the profile of the type of school envisaged to benefit from the additional £1billion John Swinney announced for the future education estate last November.
“It’s imperative we now sit down with SBC officers and elected members to see what can be done.”
Councillor Marshall added: “It certainly struck a chord when I recounted that two of 15 Scottish Nobel prize winners were educated at Hawick – a statistic that adds to a long list of famous achievers who started there.
“They were also fascinated to understand our cultural and educational links to our world-famous knitwear industry and how Hawick resumed this link through the recent introduction of a centre of textile excellence.”
Paul Wheelhouse MSP said the meeting clarified several key issues – “Scottish Government capital funding, the potential flexibility about how that could be used, based on the policy objectives of that funding, and expectations of steps that need to be taken at local authority level to prioritise projects put forward to Ministers for support.
“We were able to present our perspective on the urgent need for a new school, to bring the teaching facilities up to modern standards, and the contribution this could make to educational attainment, population retention and inclusive economic growth in the town and surrounding district.
“There is a long way to go yet, but this was an important first step in allowing us to set out Hawick’s stall.”
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