Consultation opens on school redevelopment plans

Ormiston Sudbury Academy is planning to demolish its main buildings and rebuild them

A school is inviting its community to have a say on plans that would see its main building demolished and rebuilt.

Ormiston Sudbury Academy, a secondary school in Sudbury, Suffolk, is one of hundreds of schools set for redevelopment under the Department for Education's school rebuilding programme.

The school said on its website the redevelopment "intended to support the school in achieving an improved environment".

Local residents and stakeholders are being invited to contribute their ideas to the proposals ahead of a formal planning application being submitted to Babergh District Council.

The school has said many of the buildings were in a "poor physical condition" and had been identified as requiring replacement.

The redevelopment would see the demolition of the existing main school buildings including the sports block, the design and technology building, and several other buildings.

The school plans to replace these with a "single, larger school building and new separate sports block".

"These would be designed to optimise the teaching layout and meet the latest standards of energy efficiency," the school said.

Formal plans for the redevelopment are yet to be submitted to the council

It is proposed that the new building would occupy land in the south western section of the school's site.

There would also be some overlap with the existing school building footprint.

Bowmer and Kirkland have been appointed as the main contractor which has previous experience on projects at schools.

Thoughts and ideas on the proposals can be submitted online or at a public consultation event at the school on 26 November from 15:15 to 19:00 GMT.