Councillors fight for new primary school at massive Derbyshire housing estate - after Government puts schemes on hold

The proposed primary academy – The Avenue – was originally planned and toasted to be a vital element in the transformation of The Avenue site, at Wingerworth, near Chesterfield, which was transformed from a vast former, polluted coking works into a housing estate with hundreds of new homes.

However, the Labour Government has put plans to open 44 new state schools in England on hold while they review each possible school’s potential demand and value for money.

Derbyshire County Cllr Charlotte Cupit, who covers Clay Cross North, said: “Sadly, the new Labour Government has announced it has put this project on hold – along with several others across the county – and is reviewing whether to still provide it. This is really disappointing.”

The Avenue, in Wingerworth, a planned new sixth form, in Bolsover, and South Derbyshire’s New House Farm and Infinity Park Spencer Academy are all now in doubt after the Government launched its review.

In 2021, former Conservative North East Derbyshire MP Lee Rowley and councillors secured a plan for the funded new primary school, The Avenue, from the former Conservative Government.

Plans for the Avenue CofE Primary School were announced in 2021 as one of 50 schools to be built in the next wave of the former Conservative Government’s school building programme.

The school was to be developed as part of the Government’s Free School programme and it was to be run by the Derbyshire Diocesan Academy Trust and Derbyshire County Council and the trust had said it would create much-needed nursery and primary school places for families as the number of homes on The Avenue site increased.

Trust bosses said the proposed school site would be ‘inclusive and open to pupils from families of all backgrounds and faiths, including no faith, where every child would be welcomed.

Derbyshire County Council, which oversees education, has been working with the Department for Education on the design for the new school and with the approval of an initial planning application while studying detailed ecological and ground survey investigations.

The county council was expecting a new planning application, which would fall under NE Derbyshire District Council’s planning authority, for the proposed school to be submitted by the DfE with construction work expected to follow.

But despite Cllr Cupit, County Council Leader, Cllr Barry Lewis, who represents Wingerworth and Shirland, and County Cllr Alex Dale, Cabinet member for Education, highlighting the urgent need for the school and requesting a timeline, the Government has put this plan and the three other county projects on hold.

Cllr Cupit said: “We will continue to make the case for this project to be given the go ahead as soon as possible. The current delay is really disappointing but, even worse, would be a decision to scrap the new school.”

The Government decision to pause some new school plans involves mainstream secondary and primary schools that were approved by the previous Government using its “free school” application process, introduced in 2010.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had stated at the 2023 Labour Party Conference, in Liverpool, when he was then the opposition leader that he wanted to create new towns and build on unused urban land, and in further interviews he stressed he would not allow housing developments without providing infrastructure such as GPs and schools.

Cllr Cupit added: “Labour here risk repeating their mistakes of the past in not planning the infrastructure we need to accompany the thousands of houses that have been built in the area.

“The new school at The Avenue was a critical step towards trying to start to correct this and providing space at other primary schools in the area, to ease pressures in places like Clay Cross as well as Wingerworth.”

Various developers have committed to housing schemes at The Avenue, off Derby Road, at Wingerworth, over recent years after the former Avenue coking works site was cleaned up during a 15-year remediation process in readiness for redevelopment.

Cllr Dale said: “The fact that these projects are all now under review, with the looming threat of being axed, is a huge slap in the face to everyone who’s been working so hard to make them happen and to the communities that rightly expect to see the Government honour a commitment to provide them with a local school for their children.”

A Department for Education spokesperson has said high standards can only be achieved by making sure Government funding is targeted where it is most needed, as well as ensuring best value for money so the Department is reviewing mainstream free school projects to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, offer value for money and are not to the detriment of other schools.