Housing developments cost more than £10m for schools in West Berkshire
More than £10m has been allocated to schools in West Berkshire in anticipation of the impact of large housing developments in the district over the next five years.
The impact at Park House School of additional pupil numbers from the Racecourse and Sandleford housing developments has been estimated at more than £5,476,040.
The Sandleford scheme, which would see around 1,000 houses built, has yet to be approved.
A new primary school, planned to meet the impact from the North Newbury Housing Development, is estimated at £5,152,250 over the next five years.
Other figures shown in budget breakdowns discussed recently by West Berkshire Council's executive committee include a £3m spend on replacing the sports hall at Downland Sports Centre.
The cash is earmarked to replace what is described as "an undersized and poor condition sports hall, with suitable and sufficient facilities to meet the needs of increased numbers of pupils at the school".
Falkland Primary School is also in line for classroom replacement to address poor condition, poor environmental performance and limited external space.
Costs of £87,140 are allocated to it this year, with £2,572,400 next year.
Calcot School also has a remodelling programme with a projected £6m spend over five years.
And Parsons Down School will have £180k spent on it this year to rationalise accommodation due to a fall in pupil numbers.
Garland School gets £308k to re-purpose and extend the caretaker’s dwelling to provide a therapeutic support base and facilities for pre- and post-school clubs.
Brookfields School has £233k allocated to improve toilet and changing facilities.
Increased demand on provision for secondary aged pupils with SEMH/ASD has seen £2,860,070 earmarked to meet this need.
No cash has been allocated this year to provide space at schools for child care out of school hours.
The overall schools rolling maintenance budget of more than £2m a year adds up to over £11m over the next five years.
