3 days ago
What now for St Thomas Primary site as final traces of former Arbroath school disappear?
The last remnants of a former Arbroath primary school have all but gone.
Demolition of St Thomas R.C. school in Seaton Road is virtually complete, five years after the primary closed.
Pupils moved to the £14 million Abbey View campus shared with Hayshead Primary School.
St Thomas was used for storage before the site was earmarked for affordable housing.
Angus Council hopes it can accommodate around 40 new homes.
In 2022, housing officials said they were confident the 13,200 square metre St Thomas site could deliver a much-needed mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes.
Alongside land at the former Forfar Academy in the town's Taylor Street, it was one of two former school sites earmarked for housing.
Detailed plans for both projects are yet to come forward.
Angus Council officials previously said any affordable housing project would likely involve a two-year lead in time.
And construction could take around 18 months.
St Thomas was previously at the centre of a proposal to house Ukrainian refugees in Angus.
In 2022, the Scottish Government asked Angus Council to take part in a pilot project which would have seen modular homes created on the school site.
Those would have been able to house up to 100 people.
However, the plan was abandoned after Holyrood said it would not deliver value for money.
Completion of the St Thomas demolition comes as affordable housing plans for another Forfar site resurfaced.
Councillors this week approved the transfer of the former Gables home for adults to Caledonia Housing Association.
Previous plans to develop the site collapsed due to spiralling construction costs.
