The possibility of Madras College being moved out of St Andrews is “not under consideration” by Fife Council.
Former Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said last year that if the council was unable to secure a site for a new, £40 million, single-site school in St Andrews, the local authority would consider building one elsewhere.
However, despite the threat of a judicial review which could delay the building of a recently-approved newbuild at Pipeland for years, the council remains committed to the town.
And it has stated there would be “no point” in revisiting some of the sites it has already considered and ruled out.
It has also, again, ruled out a Tay Bridgehead secondary school.
Fife Council’s executive spokesperson for education, Councillor Bryan Poole, told The Courier: “Our preference has always been to land a replacement school for Madras College in St Andrews.
“Alex’s comment would have been made in relation to gaining planning permission in principle, which, of course, neither he nor any other councillor could have been sure of/able to predict.
“As everyone knows, PIP has now been granted and as part of the process followed, was effectively endorsed by the Scottish Government an endorsement I warmly welcomed at the time.
“So we’ve moved way beyond ‘Pipeland not going ahead’ in fact, the very opposite applies. The case for proceeding with Pipeland has been made.
“It has been overwhelmingly endorsed within Fife Council, the Scottish Government have effectively told us ‘to get on with it’ and it is my very strong belief the vast majority of people in St Andrews just want us to get on with it.
“So with that backdrop, we are very confident the replacement for Madras College will go ahead at Pipeland. So the issue of having to consider moving Madras out of St Andrews is not under consideration.”
The Courier exclusively revealed last Friday that three former Madras College teachers plan a legal challenge against Fife Council’s granting of planning permission at Pipeland. The objections come from former Madras rector Lindsay Matheson, Mary Jack and Sandra Thomson named as directors in a newly formed company called the St Andrews Environmental Protection Association Limited.
Pro-Pipeland campaigners fear the challenge could delay construction of a much-needed new secondary school for years.
They have described those behind the move as “selfish and elitist”.
However, the legal challengers say they are determined to protect the landscape of St Andrews and believe more should be done to explore alternative sites on the west side of town which were ruled out.
Asked if the likes of the university-owned pond site at North Haugh would be reconsidered by the council, Mr Poole said: “In arriving at Pipeland as the preferred site, Fife Council examined around 12/13 possible sites in St Andrews over a considerable period of time.
“Fife Council agreed a set of criteria, which sites were considered against. So the other sites had to be available and suitable to build the kind of school fit for the 21st Century.
“The fact is that the only site that met and meets our requirements was Pipeland.
“Unless Fife Council agreed to change the criteria which guided the original site selection there would be no point in revisiting any of the sites that have already been ruled out.”