Plans for two new schools in Preston to be discussed by cabinet
Ambitious plans to develop additional school places to meet demand in Preston through the creation of two new schools will go before cabinet this month.
As the education authority for Lancashire, the county council has a range of statutory duties to fulfil.
The annual forecast of school place demand across Lancashire has identified several areas where additional places are needed.
In Preston, proposals are being developed to deliver a secondary school at the former Tulketh High School site and a primary school on the former hospital site at Whittingham.
The county council has already undertaken consultations for the new schools, in line with the Department for Education Guidance.
At its next meeting on Thursday 3 October, cabinet will be asked to approve the commencement of work to design and obtain planning permission for the two schools.
The current proposal is for the primary school at Whittingham to open in September 2026 with initial provision for 210 places, with infrastructure to expand to 420 places. This would be delivered in a phased approach, enabling sufficient opportunity to review data and provide places as needed.
The secondary school at the former Tulketh High School site will deliver 600 places with a proposed opening of September 2027. Demolition of the old building has already been completed.
Following the public consultation, alternative sites were looked at in detail, including land at Maxy Lane. However, the Maxy Lane site is not yet available and the Tulketh site is the only one in the area that can be used to deliver the places now, subject to planning approval.
Cllr Jayne Rear, cabinet member for Education and Skills, said:
"These are ambitious proposals that will deliver hundreds of new school places in the Preston area.
"We have pored over the consultation responses and forensically looked at the plans and considered all our options.
"The Tulketh site wasn't our preferred option for a new secondary school but is the only site in this area where we have any realistic chance to deliver the places within the required timeframe.
"It is imperative that we do not delay and the proposals we are moving forward with will ensure we deliver on our promise to provide the right number of school places, in the right areas, at the right time to meet need.
"Should cabinet agree to move forward with these plans, we will ensure to work and listen to our communities as we navigate the design and planning stages."
The proposals going before cabinet on Thursday 3 October come after cabinet agreed last month to undertake a public consultation on the proposal to permanently expand Goosnargh Oliverson's Church of England Primary School, which will provide an immediate solution to the growing demand in Preston.