Demolition of former Woodmill and St Columba's high school buildings gets the go ahead

WORK to demolish the old Woodmill and St Columba's high schools in Dunfermline has been give the go ahead by Fife Council's Cabinet Committee.

As pupils prepare to enter two new state of the art schools as part of Dunfermline's new Learning Campus, the decision marks the end of an era for the existing high school buildings.

Head of the council's property services team Alan Paul explained: "Early demolition of these buildings is important to stop the risk of them becoming targets for vandalism and eyesores for the local community.

"A cleared site, ready for development is also more attractive to any potential investors so we'll be aiming to get these buildings down as quickly as possible. Modular buildings on the site will be relocated to Balwearie High School and Castlehill Primary School and any other equipment that can be re-used will be saved and recycled."

Open evenings and events were arranged so that former pupils and members of the local community were able to pay a final visit to their former schools. And many key artefacts from both buildings including a war memorial, several very large stone pieces and a statue of St Columba are also being rehomed at Dunfermine Learning Campus.

The council's education spokesperson Cllr Cara Hilton welcomed the agreement to demolish: "We want to move quickly, regenerate this land for the benefit of the local community and ultimately provide much needed new housing in the area."

Demolition work on the 33 acre site is expected to start in the next few weeks and be completed by Spring 2025. It's hoped the land will then be sold for new housing development.