Schools to benefit from £9m investment in Suffolk

Some £9m has been outlined for spending on school places in Suffolk

A new school is among £9m of education spending plans unveiled in budget documents by Suffolk County Council.

Some £3.7m will go on the new primary school in north Felixstowe to cater for the housing growth in the area.

Four school projects have been added to this year's capital budget to be spent between April 2022 and 2025.

In addition, £3.7m has been allocated for the first of three new primary schools for the Ipswich Garden Suburb development.

Some £800,000 will go towards the expansion of Martlesham Primary Academy, with £700,000 towards the rebuild of the condemned sports dome at Dale Hall Primary School in Ipswich, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

On the Felixstowe plans, a Suffolk County Council spokesman said: "Planned housing developments in the north of the town will initially require a new 210-place primary school and 30-place pre-school to meet the additional demand arising from the housing.

"The new school and pre-school will have the ability to expand as further housing continues to come forward for development."

Housing developer contributions would provide 50% of funding for the new school with the remainder from borrowing, a council report said.

Primary education places are set to be expanded in Suffolk

The Ipswich Garden Suburb is a development of some 800 homes on the northern edge of the county town.

Henley Gate primary school, the first of the development's schools, was not expected to be completed before 2025.

The Martlesham Primary Academy project, to the east of Ipswich and Kesgrave, has been earmarked for expansion from 140 places to 210 pupils, depending on future growth in the area.

The school projects are part of £93.4m of new schemes added to the draft capital budget, although most of those have already been revealed previously.

The lion's share of that - £51.6m - is for the A12 east of Ipswich improvement, as well as the previously announced £12.8m for climate emergency investment, £10m for road drainage and £10m for pavement upgrades.

The budget proposals will go before the council's scrutiny committee on 11 January, prior to approval the following month.