Concerns over plans to build new school on toxic land

The new school would be built on Whitegates Park

A new school could be built on land previously found to have contained contaminated soil.

East Dunbartonshire Council is seeking to site the new Lenzie Academy on Whitegates Park - a proposal that has sparked angry protests from locals concerned at the loss of greenspace.

A survey in 2018 - when the site was being considered for a new additional support needs (ASN) school - found a toxic risk from shallow soils, as well as "significant potential for adverse environmental impact" if any building went ahead.

However, the local authority now says further survey work has found the land could be suitable for a school if remedial work is carried out.

The current Lenzie Academy recently received a fire safety report that graded it as possessing a "substantial risk to life" due to problems with fire exits and doors - a situation parents of pupils at the school say is due to "years of neglect and underinvestment".

Plans to replace the school, which has a roll of over 1,300 pupils, with a new building have been ongoing since 2021.

In September 2022 the council approved a feasibility report that stated building on Whitegates - one of two parks in the area - was the best option from an 11 strong shortlist.

However, Whitegates was previously considered for an ASN school in 2018, only for a report at the time to state "the proposed development is not considered to be deliverable on this site."

Scoring criteria used in 2018, which saw Woodland View school built in Kirkintilloch instead, was not used by the council when deciding where to build the Lenzie school.

The meeting where councillors selected Whitegates was also not minuted, prompting claims of a "cloak and dagger process" from protestors.

East Dunbartonshire Council told BBC Scotland News the decision not to use a scoring system this time was because it would "not necessarily encompass all relevant information" and would result in criteria used that did not apply to every option.

Campaigners against the school plan told BBC Scotland News they believe there was a "deliberate steer" towards picking Whitegates over other options.

One campaigner said: "What has changed since 2018? There were several reasons given then for why Whitegates would not work for a school. It is still a public park and a protected open space."

Locals have gathered at park for events protesting the decision

Part of the reasoning in 2018 was site investigations found the ground underlain with peat deposits, as well as toxic and phytotoxic - meaning poisonous to plants - risk from shallow soils.

However council documents now say that while there are "higher levels of heavy metals in the soil and one polyaromatic hydrocarbon", once the build goes ahead any "pathway" between toxic soil and people using the area would be removed.

A new assessment by consultants Curtins stated the previous report was "overly-conservative" in judging ground samples to be hazardous.

BBC Scotland has spoken to several residents in the area who have protested against the proposal.

The BBC has kept them anonymous, as they had concerns about being publicly critical of East Dunbartonshire Council.

One woman said: "It has been cloak and dagger throughout this whole process. We can't get a straight answer as to what has changed so drastically to allow the park to be built on?"

A spokesperson for East Dunbartonshire Council said there are less site options for Lenzie Academy compared to Woodland View, and that various factors were behind the 2018 decision, not just the soil.

They added: "There has been extensive investigation survey work undertaken on the Whitegates Park site which demonstrates its suitability for development and this will be independently verified through the planning process."

An October 2025 site visit still listed risks in several categories, due to chemicals possibly buried within the soil from an old gas works that was nearby.

A community petition asking for a public consultation into the site was also rejected in October, following an eight-month wait to be brought to the council.

A fire risk assessment was carried out at Lenzie Academy in October

All involved in the dispute are in agreement that a new school for the area is needed, and members of the local authority are insistent Whitegates is the best option.

A planning department member, speaking to BBC Scotland in a personal capacity, said the situation had "become insane" regarding the number of issues raised over the plan.

They added they believe the Whitegates option fits the criteria better than any other proposal and that many issues raised - such as documents that called Whitegates a playing field rather than a park - were simply errors rather than anything sinister.

Whitegates Park campaign

However, other protestors pointed to the environmental impact of losing the park, saying the land is filled with deer, hedgehogs, frogs and other animals.

Among reasons given in 2018 for Whitegates not being suitable was that it is a "well utilised area of open space" and that "a loss of open space within the settlement of Lenzie is not considered viable".

A replacement park is proposed for the site of the current Lenzie Academy as part of the new plan.

Yet the ongoing row has already taken a toll on some protestors.

One woman said: "This park is like medicine for so many people - somewhere you can go and walk around peacefully, or play football on, or take your dog.

"Take that away and you will affect the whole community. My mental health is in the bin over this. I feel responsible to try and save this park."