Fears for Tynecastle stadium revamp as school move plan unveiled

FEARS were growing today that the £51 million revamp of Tynecastle Stadium is facing years of delays after the city council unveiled plans to relocate a school on to the development site.

Education leaders are drawing up plans to move pupils from the soon-to-be-refurbished James Gillespie's High School into the existing Tynecastle High School building.

The council said that the proposed decant of pupils to Tynecastle could run until the end of 2015, "given that Hearts have reviewed the timing of the development of their new stadium".

Council sources also confirmed that Hearts have still not paid an outstanding bill for Tynecastle Nursery, which would have to be relocated if work on the new main stand got under way. They said that the relocation plans were currently on hold.

It was also confirmed today that Hearts have still not provided the council with all the necessary planning information relating to the new 10,000-seat stand – meaning the planning committee is still not in the position to consider the application.

Despite this, sources close to Hearts insist that the initial plans for the main stand will not be affected by the continued use of Tynecastle High School, although they were unable to say whether work would begin as planned at the end of next year.

The council's plans to potentially use the existing Tynecastle High premises as a "decant" facility for pupils at James Gillespie's during the rebuilding of the existing school were revealed by education leader Marilyne MacLaren.

She said: "We want to transform James Gillespie's into a fantastic modern facility that will serve young people for many years to come but we want to be sure that pupils continue to receive the best education during construction.

"This may be an opportunity that could suit both the council and Hearts and it has the potential to be a good solution for James Gillespie's during the construction of their new building.

"Not only are we looking at a plan that could give pupils a firm undisrupted base for their education, it has the potential to shorten construction time of the new school.

"Our feasibility study will look at this option in detail to see if it's worth taking further."

The plans will lead to growing doubts about when the Tynecastle revamp will go ahead.

There have been fears that the club's finances, as well as the wider global economic turmoil, could scupper the plans.

Hearts first unveiled their plans for the new stand in August 2007 and submitted a formal planning application in January 2008.

The club initially said development would start this year but there is still no sign of the additional information that will allow it to come before the planning committee.

However, sources close to the club today insisted the relocation of James Gillespie's would not affect the plans, as the high school site would not be needed until much later in the development.

"The reconstruction of the main stand is not affected by the Tynecastle High School site," the source said.

"It is only affected by the adult training centre and nursery.

"The initial plans for the main stand will be unaffected."

Club officials were not available to comment today.

EMPTY SITE AN ALTERNATIVE TO 'DECANT VILLAGE'

JAMES Gillespie's High is to be rebuilt at a cost of 50 million, with two-thirds of the costs paid for by the Scottish Government through the Scottish Futures Trust.

It was initially expected that a "decant village" would be set up in the school grounds that would replace parts of the school as it is rebuilt.

However, Tynecastle High School pupils are due to be relocated to a new-build school in January, leaving the existing building empty.

Hearts have already agreed to buy the Adult Training Centre and Tynecastle Nursery but have not yet finalised the deals with payment. The club also had a further option to buy the high school at a later date to allow it to construct a new North Stand.

Now the council is looking to decant James Gillespie's pupils to Tynecastle High instead.

Council officials are still working up timescales and holding talks about funding levels for the James Gillespie's project.

Plans for the temporary move to Tynecastle are still at an early stage and a consultation will be held with the school community.