New primary school for college site in Barnoldswick (From Lancashire Telegraph)

New primary school for college site in Barnoldswick

10:00pm Tuesday 2nd October 2012 in News By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter

A NEW Barnoldswick primary school is set to be built on the site of West Craven High Technology College as part of an £11million redevelopment.

The new school, needed because of an increase in the birth rate in the town, will be constructed alongside significant investment in the current infrastructure at West Craven High.

A planning application for the work, funded by Lancashire County Council, is to be submitted soon, and it is hoped building work will start in January, with the new school opening next August.

A Lancashire County Council spokesperson said: “The proposal to expand Barnoldswick CE Controlled Primary School forms part of the ‘Basic Need Programme’ and arose from the projected rise in pupil numbers as a result of a higher level of births in the Barnoldswick area.

“The existing one-form entry school is housed on an extremely constrained site with limited access and therefore it would not be feasible to extend the premises.

“In addition, the buildings have significant suitability issues. Barnoldswick CE Controlled Primary School is only a short distance from West Craven High Technology College where a suitable site for the new two-form entry primary school building has been identified.”

The redevelopment of some of the old buildings at West Craven High was originally to be funded from the Building Schools for the Future programme, before it was axed in July 2011.

Now the county council is funding the £6.2million redevelopment, which would see some of the original buildings, built 70 years ago, demolished and replaced.