Dundee City Council should build a new primary school for children living in the Western Gateway as a matter of urgency, it has been claimed.
Hundreds of new homes are being built on the western edge of Dundee, just north of the A90.
Developers building the properties have had to pay a roof tax in order to pay for the construction of a new school serving the area.
Now with the population of the Western Gateway growing, Labour Lochee councillor Michael Marra has said Dundee City Council must make building a new primary school their priority.
He said: “Last year I convinced council officers that a comprehensive plan for the development of the Western Gateway was required.
“When the original development started there were few residents but now there is now a real need to ask people living in the area what their experience is like. It is important to know what works and what does not.
“The overwhelming cause of concern for residents has been the lack of education provision.
“It is worth remembering that people bought homes on the old Liff Hospital site a decade ago on the promise of a primary school for their children. A decade on there is no school in place.”
Mr Marra said there is no excuse for the City Council not to press ahead with the construction of a new school as the developers behind the Western Gateway are paying for it.
He said: “The council has money in the bank that is being collected from house sales. A site has been allocated for the development of a primary school. There is urgent need, there is money and there is a site.
“It is vital that the primary school is now built. We need a date confirmed in the strategic development framework to say when residents can expect to see a primary school in the Western Gateway.”
Mr Marra said a date for the opening of the primary school should be set by the council and plans for the school – or schools – made public.
He said: “There are suggestions that the long promised primary school might be tied into a shared secondary school across three local authorities.
“There has been no proper discussion whether any of that plan would be a good idea for Dundee children.
“The first consequence of the plan would be pushing the delivery of a primary school back by years. We need a date for the opening of the primary school in this plan when it is published at the start of the new year.”
A spokeswoman for Dundee City Council said no decisions have been taken about education in the Western Gateway.
She said: “We are continuing to discuss this matter.”
