School expansion costs set to reach £9.4m

Chuter Ede Primary School in Fernwood opened in 2012

Work to expand a primary school in Nottinghamshire so it can cope with rising pupil numbers will come at a cost of £9.4m.

Chuter Ede Primary School in Fernwood, near Newark, is set to double its pupil capacity from 210 to 420 by September 2026 as part of an expansion project to serve a growing population in the area.

In February 2024, Newark and Sherwood District Council approved Persimmon Homes' wider plans for a 1,800-property development off Shire Lane.

Other developments by Allison Homes in the south and Barratt David Wilson Homes in the north mean more than 3,000 new homes will be built in total across the village.

The Fernwood school site, which opened in 2012, is an annex of Chuter Ede Primary School in Wolfit Avenue, Balderton.

A new Nottinghamshire County Council document includes the latest estimated costs for the expansion, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Plans for the school's expansion were approved by the county council's planning committee in March, though councillors raised concerns about the lack of drop-off space.

Eight classrooms will be built at the site, alongside extra sports pitches for rounders and football, a running track and two hard PE courts.

Funding for the project will come from a £4m financial housing developer contribution, with the remaining £5.4m coming from the council's school places programme.

The council document also states that to avoid "insufficiency" of places, construction work must start by 1 September, with construction expected to last 50 weeks.