PEOPLE in the Doon Valley will have a chance next week to look at detailed plans for a new £41 million community campus in Dalmellington.
The plans are set to incorporate a new early years centre, primary and secondary schools, leisure centre and health centre.
The preferred location for the new campus is the site of the current Doon Academy, Dalmellington Primary School and Early Childhood Centre, the Doon Valley Leisure Centre and the site of the existing Dalmellington Area Centre.
The cost of the campus was said to have risen by £7.6m in a report last year, with a report to East Ayrshire Council (EAC) stating that the campus is now expected to cost up to £41.1m.
A community event will take place at the Dalmellington Community Centre on Wednesday, February 22 from 6pm until 8pm.
This will allow people to view the plans and dicuss the details with members of the project team.
A final public drop-in event will then be held on Wednesday, April 19 at Dalmellington Community Centre, again from 6-8pm.
Updated designs will be shown at this event, with further potential for dicussions with project team members.
East Ayrshire Council says "there is a collective vision for this campus to become the ‘beating heart of the community’ and community engagement will sit at the heart of these proposals.”
There is an emphasis on inclusion in the design approach, with council officials saying they want to maximise opportunities for sharing facilities that support education, health and wellbeing, sports excellence, the arts, culture and events, community integration and lifelong learning.
It's believed that there will be space for over 500 students to study at the campus, which will incorporate a primary, and secondary, as well as ASN provision.
They propose outdoor educational and recreational spaces for all and a sensory therapeutic garden, connecting the indoor and outdoor settings. As well as this, they say there will be recreational facilities available for use by students and the wider community.
Building work was originally planned to start in the summer of this year, with completion earmarked for the summer of 2025, in time for pupils to start at the new campus in August of that year.
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