Plan to expand Hereford School with £13m grant

The plans considered by Herefordshire Council would increase pupil numbers by 300 at Aylestone School

Nearly £13m could be invested in expanding a secondary school in Hereford to meet future demand.

The money could increase pupil capacity from 450 to 750 at Aylestone School, a report to Herefordshire Council said.

Funding will also be for additional accommodation and to make the school easier to reach on foot and by bike.

However, Aylestone Hill's ward councillor Ange Tyler said she would like the authority to invest the money in expanding other nearby schools.

She said she was not supportive of the plans without the council "further exploring the barriers preventing the expansion of Whitecross High School", the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

While Whitecross High School would be the council's preferred option, the authority said expanding it would raise the annual charge it pays under an existing private finance initiative deal to an unaffordable level.

The funding to expand Aylestone is to come from unspent grant money from the Department for Education for expanding pupil provision.

It would reverse a declining trend at the school, which had 1,250 students 20 years ago, the LDRS said.

The council's cabinet is also expected to back a further £7.5m programme of maintenance and accessibility improvements to the county's schools.

Both proposals will be considered at a meeting on Thursday.