Building work to start on new primary school

More than 5,000 homes are being built on the Great Haddon development near Peterborough and Yaxley

Construction of a new primary school and nursery is set to begin this summer as part of a major residential development.

The first nursery and primary school of the Great Haddon urban extension project in Peterborough is expected to be completed by September next year.

The state-funded academy school will take 420 pupils and the nursery will take about 50 children.

It is being built as part of the Great Haddon project which included 5,350 homes, three shopping centres, three primary schools and a secondary school.

A reserved matters application for the first primary school and nursery on the development was approved on 24 July, with construction beginning later in the summer.

Dr Helen Price, the executive head teacher of the Hampton Academies Trust, said in the months before the school opens there would be information events for parents and carers.

Fast-growing city

In May, the Department for Education appointed the Hampton Academies Trust to operate the new primary school.

It will be the first school Peterborough City Council has delivered via the free school presumption route, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It will be independent of local authority control and will receive funding directly from government.

Katy Cole, the cabinet member for children's services at Peterborough City Council, previously said: "Peterborough is one of the country's fastest growing cities and we are committed to ensuring we have the right infrastructure in place to meet the demands of a growing population which will need additional school places."

The council will lead and fund the building of the school and work with Hampton Academies Trust to ensure its successful opening.

Elsewhere in Great Haddon, a reserved matters application was approved in June for 316 homes off the Yaxley Loop Road, now referred to as Lodge Way.

Out of the 316 homes to be built, 265 will be private market housing while 51 will be affordable. They will be a mixture of one to five-bedroom homes.