EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL A PROPOSAL DOCUMENT

(c)
It is for these reasons that it is recommended not to consider this ground for
the location of the new secondary school.
4.8 EXISTING KILMARNOCK ACADEMY SITE
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
The existing Kilmarnock Academy site is 1.588 hectares in area. This is
insufficient for the needs of a 1,400 pupil secondary school.
Site restrictions would require additional space to be created by building
vertically which may contribute to additional construction costs. However,
even with the scope to build vertically it is not possible for all of the base
school requirements in terms of external areas parking / drop-off etc to be
accommodated within the confines of the site.
The site has insufficient space to allow building works to take place while the
school is in session. Therefore, there would be a need to decant from the
existing Kilmarnock Academy buildings during the construction of the new
secondary school on this site. This additional cost would require to be met in
full by the Council.
The existing Kilmarnock Academy site is constrained at present in terms of
vehicular access. Access at present is only possible from London Road via
Braeside Street, and from Old Mill Road via Dick Road. Braeside Street is
one-way from London Road and a one-way system operates on Rennie Street
and Elmbank Drive. Dick Road is therefore the only exit route for vehicles.
Streets in this area are also used for parking by town centre commuters. Dick
Road also provides access to the Dick Institute.
Traffic counts undertaken between 8am and 9am on 16 January 2013
observed:
Braeside Street
Dick Road
197 vehicles in
168 vehicles in; 177 vehicles out
It is not possible to differentiate how many vehicles were staff or parents
associated with Kilmarnock Academy and Loanhead PS respectively.
There is traffic congestion on Dick Road due to the volume of traffic and
parked cars on both sides of the road. The road often operates as a single file
due to the amount of parking. There have been complaints over the years
about traffic congestion though the situation has improved since the closure of
St Columba’s PS. Queues were observed to build up on Dick Road and it can
be difficult for traffic to exit onto Old Mill Road due to the high traffic volume on
that road. Traffic queuing to exit Dick Road coupled with parked cars regularly
impedes traffic trying to enter the road at school times.
The residential properties on Dick Road do not have off-street parking and it is
likely that there would be objections by residents to the promotion of a Traffic
Order to introduce waiting restrictions on the road to ease traffic flow.
40