Taunton's net zero school building costs rise by £5m

The school will offer places to 420 pupils from reception to year six, as well as 52 nursery places

The cost of a net-zero primary school has risen by £5m since the designs were first put forward.

Orchard Grove Primary School in Taunton will serve the residents of the new Orchard Grove development, which will eventually comprise 2,000 homes.

Construction on the new school is now under way after planning permission was granted in January.

The new school, which will be finished by September 2024, is now predicted to cost £12.3m.

When the project was first announced in November 2021, Somerset County Council estimated that it would cost £7.3m to build the new school.

By the time the school was granted planning permission in January 2023, the cost had risen to £11.3m, in light of high inflation.

Somerset Council confirmed on Wednesday that the school was now expected to cost £12.3m - meaning costs have gone up nearly 69% in less than two years.

The building will be only the third school in the south west which is built to pass net zero carbon standards.

'Somerset can be proud'

A Somerset Council spokesman said: "This rise is primarily down to inflation, but also the additional costs relating to net zero which are greater than first estimated."

Additional funding from the developer has been sought and additional capital has been committed by the local authority.

Councillor Dixie Darch, portfolio holder for climate change and the environment, added that the rise in costs would not dissuade the council from persuading other zero carbon building projects in the future.

She said: "Orchard Grove Primary will be an historic building of which Somerset can be proud, being the first fully net zero, climate resilient school in our county.

"The energy efficiency of the building will allow for cost savings which can be channelled back into educational resources."

The new school building will open in September 2024, but from this current term pupils will attend Isambard Kingdom Brunel school in Wellington, with the council providing the necessary transport.

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