A LONG-DELAYED primary school in Kilbirnie will not be ready to open its doors until after the summer holidays, council bosses have admitted.

Work started on the new Moorpark Primary way back in September 2021, and it was originally due to open in the autumn of the following year.

But North Ayrshire Council has now confirmed that work on the £10.85 million primary school building has been hit by yet more delays.

And they also revealed that the also long-delayed Marress House early years centre in Irvine, which had been due to open last August, still had no completion date in sight.

The final brick was laid at the Moorpark building in April 2023, when council officials said it would open in September that year.

But in September the local authority said it was "unable to accept handover of the building from the contractor due to a number of outstanding defects".

They said that "further investigation of these items has confirmed that extensive remediation works are required".

An new opening date of spring 2024 was then suggested.

But now we can reveal that the date has been pushed back to August this year.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “We are continuing to work with our appointed contractor to ensure our Moorpark Primary School and Marress House Early Years Centre projects are completed as soon as possible and to the appropriate standard.

“In respect of Moorpark Primary School, we have recently advised all stakeholders that based on current progress by the contractor, we are planning for the new school to open in August 2024."

The spokesperson added: “We await an updated programme of works from the contractor in respect of Marress House to allow a similar assessment of progress to be made.

“We will update stakeholders following our analysis of the revised programme.”

When it's eventually ready for use the new Moorpark Primary will have 12 primary classes and a 24-place early years facility.

It's planned that the building will use a "natural ventilation strategy" and will boast solar panels to provide free, renewable electricity.

The Moorpark project also includes improvements to pedestrian and cycle pathways, as well as cycle and storage facilities at the school itself.

Until the new building is complete, education provision will continue at the existing Moorpark building.

The current school building dates from 1978. 

When building work started on the new school, the council said it had considered modernising the existing facility, but concluded that a new-build option was "the best way forward for current and future generations of school pupils and their families".