Designs revealed for new £23m Perth school

Plans for a new multi-million-pound secondary school in Perth have been unveiled for the first time.An artist’s impression shows how the 1,100-capacity Bertha Park development could look. The new Perth and Kinross Council school is part of a £1 billion city expansion being created by award-winning developer Springfield Properties.Around 3,000 homes are being built on the site and designers of the new secondary school have set aside space in the grounds for a new primary school building, if needed.Several grass sports fields are planned as part of the £23 million school, as well as an all-weather pitch.Facilities for pupils with additional support needs will also be provided.The council successfully secured £15.3m of Scottish Government funds for the new school in July 2012. Later that year, the local authority agreed to pay £7.6m towards the scheme out of its own budget.Originally, a condition of the funding is that the new school must be up and running by the end of March 2018.However, the opening date was postponed until 2019 after complaints from parents about the original plan to phase in pupils.The new school has yet to secure planning consent.