Edinburgh's first Gaelic language secondary school could be built on the site of one of a contaminated former council fleet depot, it has been claimed.
It comes after an agreement between the council and developers to look into regenerating the site fell through.
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However concerns remain over the suitability and size of the site for an educational facility.
Plans for a Gaelic Medium Education (GME) school in the capital have slowed recently after council officers said no city centre sites would be suitable for a standalone building.
In January councillors voted to halt a statutory consultation on alternative proposals for the school to be built on a shared campus with the replacement Liberton High School or on the existing Castlebrae High School site in Craigmillar.
Instead, they agreed to continue with an informal consultation on other possible city centre locations.
Edinburgh City Council's executive director of children's services Amanda Hatton told the education committee on Tuesday (March 1) that the Liberton option is 'the best that we have educationally'.
And she warned that further delay to consultation would jeopardise the expansion of GME in Edinburgh and could lead to a catchment review of James Gillespie's High School, which currently has spaces for 120 Gaelic speaking pupils.
However, a site previously investigated and dismissed by the council, one of its former vehicle depots on Russel Road, could now be looked at again after a move from a Green Party councillor.
Alex Staniforth told the finance and resources committee on Thursday (March 3) that "no real progress" has been made on an agreement between the council and developers Russell Road Edinburgh Ltd (RREL) to explore the redevelopment of the depot near Murrayfield.
A motion tabled by Cllr Staniforth noted the agreement, known as a 'memorandum of understanding' (MoU), has still not been signed.
Supported by the council's SNP/Labour coalition and passed unanimously at the meeting, it called on the council to "suspend efforts to sign a MoU for Russell Road until such time as the feasibility of the site to host the GME Secondary school have been completed and reported back to this committee".
However, officers said in a report in January that even if the site becomes available, it's "not considered a suitable site for a school development".
They added: "For a modern secondary school – particularly one which is stand alone to enhance immersion – the school would require to have direct access to at least one full size all-weather pitch - an overall site of about 10 acres. The CEC ownership at Russell Road is approximately 6 acres.
"The CEC ownership has road access, but the street frontage is owned by others. The site is triangular in shape and located between and below the main
railway line and the Western Approach Road. The site is also known to be contaminated."
Councillor Staniforth said: "This site on Russel Road is currently targeted for a memorandum of understanding, it's my understanding that no real progress has been made on that.
"So this motion seeks to simply pause that while we consider the site for Gaelic Medium Education. And if it's not suitable we can seek a memorandum of understanding on this again, but it should at least be allowed to be considered for that purpose."
Finance convenor Rob Munn, SNP, said he had discussed the MoU with council officers and added: "The MOU had not progressed the way they had hoped when they made the decision so I have no objection to removing it as convenor and I understand that officers don't either."
