The council will spend over £14.5 million on the school and propose to have the school opened by August 2021. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2020. The new primary will also include a new Early Years nursery school.

West Lothian Council said it is committed to supporting new housing to be delivered through Core Development Areas (CDAs) such as Calderwood. The new school and additional school capacity will help to support new local housing.

The council executive has approved the formal submission of a new project request to hub South East for the delivery of the new primary school, which will take forward the build project on behalf of the council.

As with all new school projects where there are changes to school catchments, a formal statutory education consultation is undertaken. The council has approved the commencement of a formal public consultation to review admission arrangements to establish the catchment area of the school and review the admission arrangements arising from a variation of the catchment area of East Calder Primary School.

Council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick said: “Many of our communities are growing and more and more people are choosing to make West Lothian their home. The council is committed to ensuring that we have sufficient education capacity for our area and that we deliver modern and innovative schools to ensure that our children are provided with the possible environment and opportunities for quality learning and life chances.”

Executive councillor for education David Dodds said: “This is a very exciting time in Education within West Lothian. Despite huge financial challenges that the council faces we are choosing to focus on resources that matter most to our communities, and we are investing heavily in our school buildings and education resources. We are delighted at the progress being made on this large scale project.”