By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
A new school will be built in Worksop to meet a “growing and sustained” need for primary school places in part of the town.
The 315-place school will be built on the town’s Gateford Park housing development, which also includes permission for 750 homes.
The school has been promised since the wider Gatekeeper Way development was granted planning consent in 2015, with construction on the neighbouring homes well underway.
Now Nottinghamshire County Council has granted permission for its own plans, which have been brought forward alongside its in-house contractor Arc Partnership.
The new school will initially have the capacity for 210 children and a 26-place nursery.
However, a future 150 per cent expansion is planned to take the site up to the full 315 places.
Construction can now begin ahead of a September 2024 opening after it was unanimously backed by the council’s planning and rights of way committee.
The meeting, on Tuesday (June 6), heard the school’s design will be identical to the new site brought forward and opened by the authority in Bingham.
It will be funded in part by Section 106 developer contributions and the authority’s basic needs grant funding.
Overall, the similar Bingham scheme was a £7.9m project, with the school itself costing £6.3m to build.
In the meeting, district and county councillors representing the area spoke about the need for the school.
Councillor Maria Charlesworth (Lab), who represents Worksop North on Bassetlaw District Council, told the meeting: “Families in my ward are struggling to get primary school places.
“Many have siblings and they are split between schools. A lot of these residents don’t have the luxury of cars and have to take buses, walk or even take taxis.
“It’s becoming difficult to deliver and collect their children on time.
“Schools are at the limit so, in my opinion, it’s imperative this school goes ahead so the children of future generations will receive education needs.”
Cllr Sybil Fielding (Lab), who represents Worksop West on the county council, added: “The community I represent needs this school now – and that means both phases, making parental choice a real opportunity.”
County council figures show there is expected to be a 138-place gap in pupil places across Gateford and Shireoaks by the 2026/27 academic year.
The authority says these new projections “support the need for the new school” in order to meet demand.
The meeting also heard from Neil Gamble, group manager for property asset management, who spoke as the applicant.
He said: “The need is current, growing and sustained. The new school will provide much-needed places in an area of significant housing gain for local families.
“[It] will be an excellent environment for education, it will be net-zero in operation and will provide a new school the community can be proud of.”
But some councillors raised concerns about the potential increase in parking on nearby residential streets once the school is built.
Cllr Andre Camilleri (Con), who represents Mansfield South, said: “There seems to be plenty of land to accommodate a parking area, a turning circle or somewhere to drop children off.
“This is a brilliantly-planned school but it could be a nightmare for some residents who haven’t put up with double parking before.”
In response, David Marsh, a senior council planning officer, said: “We can’t direct how parents will behave in terms of how they bring children to school.
“The school is a central location within a housing estate, so the opportunity is there for people to bring their children to school.
“There will be opportunities for people to walk to school, but it is acknowledged this is a problem.”
Basic drawings on the council’s planning portal reveal the school would feature eight classrooms, a school hall, a kitchen, several toilets, numerous staff rooms and admin spaces, a playing field and sports pitches.
Thirty-three staff would be employed at the school in the first phase, with 33 car parking spaces and two disabled bays on-site.
