A NEW new primary school could be built in Yate within the next three years.
The school would be built in the north of the town for children of families living in the Ladden Garden Village estate, with the council ready to commit £13 million to the project.
If it is approved by South Gloucestershire Council’s cabinet next week, work would be expected to begin early 2027, with a projected opening date of 2028 or 2029, if construction goes according to schedule.
The council’s cabinet will vote on whether to approve the plan on May 12.
A report to the cabinet set out all the details of the plan, including that the school would initially have one class in each year, but space for two classes, to allow pupil numbers to grow.
School places shortage
The report said: “Projections indicate that between 2026 and 2028 there will be an estimated one to 1.5 form of entry shortage of school places in a number of year groups.
“The most recent data indicates that there are sufficient places in the reception age group to 2028.
“But as cohorts move through the schools, it is likely that for the junior phase, Years 3 to 6, there may be a shortage of school places as more families move into the development.
“This will particularly be the case in some junior age year groups, with 10 of the 12 cohorts expected to be facing a shortage of available places across the planning area.”
Details of the layout of the school and its location are still unclear and are expected to be revealed when the council applies for planning permission to build the school.
A public consultation on the plans is expected to take place between November and next January.
Developer money for project
Three quarters of the money to pay for the construction will come from the developers who built the Ladden Garden Village estate.
The council signed a legal deal with them back in 2015, known as a Section 106 agreement, where builders agree to pay a contribution towards local infrastructure such as schools and roads.
The risk of aiming for a 2028 opening is that children would have to be taught in temporary classrooms if the school isn’t finished in time.
This has happened in Bristol, where the Oasis Academy Temple Quarter secondary school opened in temporary classrooms in 2023, and is still waiting for its permanent home to be finished.
Elsewhere in South Gloucestershire, other schools are either being expanded or being built to meet the growing demand of an increasing population.
Last month the cabinet approved a plan to double the size of Manorbrook Primary School in Thornbury, and building of new secondary and primary schools is underway in Lyde Green – a project that is running four years behind schedule. The two schools were originally due to open in September 2022 but are now expected to open in 2026.
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Picture: South Gloucestershire Council’s headquarters in Yate