A JOINT campus which would house two Dunfermline high schools as well as Fife College is likely to cost £180 million.

The proposals – which do not yet have funding – were outlined to a meeting of elected representatives this week.

Although not yet set in stone, Fife Council is looking into the possibility of housing a college campus with much-needed replacements for Woodmill and St Columba's high schools at the old Hyundai site at Halbeath.

The cost of such a facility has been mooted at £180m but Fife Council insist this is just an indicative figure.

Education & Children's Services executive director Carrie Lindsay, said they were continuing to have discussions with the Scottish Government and Fife College about the possibility of a Learning Community Campus.

"We're currently running engagement sessions about the proposed secondary school provision across Dunfermline and Inverkeithing, to listen to local community views and to help shape proposals for the longer-term vision for secondary schooling across the area," she said.

“As would be expected, we are considering all options, and working to ensure that we can achieve as much as possible within the capital resources that might be available.

"We hope that there will be an announcement from the Scottish Government on funding available to local authorities before the Autumn, and we will be in a good place to respond positively. We would not be in a position to indicate timescales fully until the funding is announced."

A Fife College spokesperson said they were working closely with Fife Council and the Scottish Government and its agencies to secure the investment required for the campus.

"We believe that the case for investment is compelling and, with the support of the people of Fife, we remain optimistic that the necessary funding will be forthcoming,” added the spokesperson.

After hearing about the proposals, Dunfermline and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman said he was "hugely excited" at the prospect of the "visionary" project.

“The background planning appears to be well advanced and both Fife Council and Fife College are working together to progress things to a stage where they can take a proposal to a council committee and the College board respectively," he said.

"If approved by both, it would then go out to public consultation. As the college and the council get their money from different funding streams, much work still has to be done to put the funding package together but what we would end up with in West Fife would be something quite exceptional and, from a learner’s perspective, one of the best school/college campus sites in Scotland, if not the UK.

"We also know that Fife Council is currently looking for alternative sites for a replacement Inverkeithing High School and delivering that hat-trick of new high schools in West Fife remains a priority for me to give our young people the very best opportunities for their future.”

Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville added: “This is a really exciting project, which will deliver education not just for young people, but for people of all ages across West Fife. The rest of Scotland will be looking on at this pioneering project, to learn from the world-class educational opportunities it will unlock.

“This is about more than just providing state-of-the-art new facilities for Fife College and our local schools. It creates a myriad of opportunities to develop educational links with universities and small businesses.”