Wickhurst Green: Plans dropped for new primary school

West Sussex County Council has assessed there is no shortage of primary school places in Horsham area

Plans to build a new primary school in West Sussex have been dropped.

The government has informed West Sussex County council the 420-place school at Wickhurst Green has been withdrawn from its Free School Capital Programme.

A council spokesman said there were "sufficient places available at existing, high-performing schools" in the Horsham area.

Land for a school site was allocated in 2011 and the Glynn Learning Foundation was made the free school sponsor.

However, discussions over several years were unable to resolve several issues around readying the land for transfer to the county council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council spokesman said: "While these discussions continued, the growth in pupil numbers was catered for initially by using surplus space at nearby Shelley Primary School.

"In 2016, temporary classrooms were added to Shelley to take additional pupils, and in 2018 this expansion was made permanent with a £2.15m investment to enhance facilities at the 420-pupil school."

The spokesman added there was currently close to 10% surplus capacity across 11 primary schools in Horsham.

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