New schools in Northstowe move one step closer
9 February 2018
The schools at Northstowe are moving a step forward following the appointment of Kier as the design and build contractor just before Christmas. The development team are taking the initial plans for the secondary and special school to the Cambridgeshire Design Quality panel on 5 February.
First build - phase one primary school in Northstowe
Northstowe is a new town being built five miles north-west of Cambridge with strong transport links into Cambridge by the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. Housebuilding has already begun at Northstowe as Phase 1 has been started, and the new schools will form an education campus close to the proposed town centre in Phase 2.
In 2008, Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust (CMAT) proposed the new secondary school and post-16 provision to Cambridgeshire County Council where it was approved as school provider. It was later approved as provider of the SEN school in early 2017.
The schools in Northstowe are set to serve not only the town, but also the surrounding villages. The secondary school will initially open for pupils entering Year 7 only and will grow incrementally as the school is expanded in phases.
“We’re really pleased with how the plans are progressing for the schools in Northstowe. We have ambitious plans for Northstowe, where the school is at the heart of the new town, bringing people together to create an empowered local community. Last term was a busy period for our Northstowe team as they have also been out meeting prospective students and parents face-to-face at the Year 5 parents’ evening at Hatton Park Primary School. We’ve also been holding termly updates at Pathfinder and Hatton Park as we feel it’s important for the community to be involved with the school before it’s opened. It is an exciting time for CMAT, Swavesey Village College and the local community, and we are pleased that we now able to start bringing this vision to life.”
Now the building contracts have been decided, the Northstowe team within CMAT are working with Cambridgeshire County Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Homes England and Kier to develop the initial plans. They are hoping to secure planning permission by April 2018, with construction due to begin in Autumn/Winter 2018 and to be ready to welcome its first set of pupils in September 2019.
“This is an important milestone in the development of a new, vibrant community at Northstowe, which will ultimately see 10,000 new homes built at the site. Alongside vital infrastructure works also due to commence in the coming weeks, the new secondary school will help provide the facilities needed to unlock delivery of these much needed new homes.”