AN £8.6MILLION contract to build a new public primary school in East Lothian will be funded entirely by housing developers for the first time in the county.

Work on the new 14-class school is set to get under way this month at the new Letham Mains housing estate on the western edge of Haddington.

But while future residents of the estate, which is earmarked for more than 800 homes, will send their children to the new school, pupils moving into the neighbouring new Haddington Manse and Moncrieff Meadows estates at Gateside face up to a 1.5-mile walk past it to the town’s established school.

Morrison Construction, which is working on the new Wallyford Primary School and the East Lothian Community Hospital, will build the school after being awarded the £8.63m contract.

The county is undergoing a surge in building after the Scottish Government ordered it to provide land for 10,000 new homes.

And housing developers are being ordered to contribute towards the cost of  new school buildings and extensions as part of the deal.

The new Letham Primary School is the first which will be entirely funded by money from developers in East Lothian; however, that is not the reason for the exclusion of neighbouring pupils.

Education chiefs insist that decision came down to timing, with plans for the school site made before the developments at Gateside were approved.

The decision to restrict the new school’s catchment area means that children living just a few streets away will walk past the building to the centre of the town and enrol in the recently merged Haddington Primary School – which saw the town’s main infant school and primary school brought under one umbrella last year.

East Lothian Council said the cost of extending the Letham Mains school site to accommodate the neighbouring families would have been “significant”, telling parents the existing school could be adapted to meet their needs.

Ward councillor Shamin Akhtar, who is also the local authority’s cabinet spokeswoman for education, said: “Work is well under way at Letham Mains to provide 800 new homes, including affordable houses, for our community.

“I’m pleased that the contract has been awarded for Letham Primary School and this important part of the development can move forward.

“I look forward to following its progress.”

The new school is expected to be ready for the start of the school year from August 2020.

The school will have 14 classrooms suitable for pre-school and primary teaching, a dining hall, social space and a two-court PE hall with retractable seating for performance and community use.

Until now, new schools and extensions have been funded by a combination of developers’ contributions, council funding and Scottish Government grants.