A BID for a new £56.6m Hawick High School has cleared another planning hurdle.

Early in July architects Stallan-Brand submitted a proposal of application notice (PAN) to Scottish Borders Council, outlining the public consultation it planned to carry out over the project.

Now the local authority has approved the PAN – clearing the way for a formal planning application to be submitted.

That application could be presented to the council as early as September 25, it has emerged.

The proposal is for the rationalisation of the existing school campus and erection of a new high school building on the current site in Buccleuch Road.

It will also include new or enhanced hard and soft landscaping, internal paths, service access, car parking, and drop-off areas.

It is proposed that all works will be carried out within the existing school grounds as a tandem build arrangement.

If all goes to plan building work would begin on the site in 2026.

Education provision in the Borders is going through a transformational period, with several school projects ongoing or in the pipeline.

Work has started on the construction of a new £64.5m Galashiels Academy in Scott Park and on a new Peebles High School, at the cost of £61m.

Stallan-Brand is also the company behind the design of the award-winning Jedburgh Intergenerational Community Campus.

In his response to the PAN, Scott Shearer, the council's principal planning officer, said: “I can confirm that your PAN satisfies the minimum statutory consultation activities that are required.

“A planning application for a major development cannot be submitted less than 12 weeks from the date of receipt of your PAN. In this case, an application cannot be submitted before September 25, 2024.”