Ribble Valley primary school to expand (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Ribble Valley primary school to expand

5:30pm Thursday 24th January 2013 in News By Jessica Cree, Education reporter

A RIBBLE Valley primary school has been given permission to extend its building, allowing it to welcome 30 more pupils.

Two new classrooms are to be constructed at Barrow Primary School, which currently has capacity for 119 pupils, although 135 children actually attend.

A single-storey extension, more car parking spaces and a bicycle store now means the school will be able to take in 149 children each year.

The project also includes a new extended hard play area.

Action groups welcomed the move, but said 30 new places were only ‘a drop in the ocean’ to accommodate new people who would be brought into the area because of the number of houses being built.

An application for 504 new homes in Barrow was sub-mitted to Ribble Valley Council by The Barrow Lands Company in July last year.

Nick Walker, from the Save Whalley Village Action Group, said: “This will simply absorb what has already been given permission to be built. It is just a miniscule amount.

“By my calculations, the 500 house development alone will generate around 170 children so it is nowhere near enough.”

But Christine Marchi, head teacher at the school, said the approval was ‘fantastic news’ for the school and village.