Informal consultation background: launch of a Free School Presumption Competition (new primary school in the Mansfield East Planning Area)
In 2013 Mansfield District Council considered an outline planning application for the development of 169.3 hectares of land adjacent to the A617 in the Berry Hill area of Mansfield, including the building of up to 1,700 houses. This application was approved. There is a Section 106 Agreement* associated with the planning application which identifies the developer’s commitments to deliver infrastructure for the area.
⃰ A Section 106 agreement is a legal obligation entered into between a housing developer and a local authority through which a developer contributes financially to reduce the impact of a development proposal by providing local services, in this case, a new school.
Housing Development at Lindhurst
It is projected that the 1,700 houses proposed for the Lindhurst site will yield 357 primary and 272 secondary school places required in the area. The developer of the site at Lindhurst has agreed to make available land and contribute towards the cost of building a new primary school to serve the new housing development. The developer will be requested to contribute towards the cost of creating additional secondary school places in the Mansfield East planning area.
Table 1 illustrates the trajectory of house building and consequent number of primary and secondary school places required.
Table 1: Projected Housing Delivery to 2025/26
Lindhurst Development Year of completion
|
18/19 |
19/20 |
20/21 |
21/22 |
22/23 |
23/24 |
24/25 |
25/26 |
|
|
Projected houses complete |
36 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 90 | 90 |
|
Projected primary places required |
8 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 19 | 19 |
|
Cumulative primary places required |
8 | 33 | 58 | 83 | 108 | 134 | 152 | 171 |
|
Projected secondary places required |
1 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 27 |
|
Cumulative secondary places required |
1 | 6 | 16 | 29 | 46 | 68 | 92 | 120 |
Primary Schools in the Mansfield East Planning Area
The map below shows the position of the ten existing primary schools in the Mansfield East planning area. The red marker denotes the approximate position of the proposed new primary school.
Table 2: Mansfield East Primary Schools – Capacity and number of pupils on roll
|
School |
PAN* |
Net capacity |
Number on roll |
Forecast NOR 2023 |
|
Abbey Primary School |
60 |
420 |
422 |
415 |
|
Asquith Primary and Nursery School |
45 |
315 |
295 |
276 |
|
Berry Hill Primary School |
60 |
420 |
394 |
456 |
|
High Oakham Primary School |
60 |
428 |
416 |
408 |
|
King Edward Primary School |
90 |
630 |
364 |
323 |
|
Mansfield Primary Academy |
30 |
210 |
199 |
207 |
|
Oak Tree Primary and Nursery |
40 |
297 |
198 |
163 |
|
St Patrick's Catholic Primary School |
30 |
210 |
202 |
193 |
|
St Peter's C of E Primary Academy |
45 |
315 |
225 |
177 |
|
Wynndale Primary School |
30 |
210 |
207 |
193 |
(*Published Admission Number)
New Primary School on the Lindhurst Development
As part of the Section 106 agreement for the development of the Lindhurst site, developers are committed to deliver supporting infrastructure to the area. The developer has agreed to the allocation of a site of 2.1 hectares for the building of a new primary school for children aged 4 to 11. The school will also offer early years provision.
This is a large development where a new school was a condition for the granting of the planning permission.
The new school would be built in accordance with the specifications described by the Department for Education (Building Bulletin 103) and under consultation with Nottinghamshire County Council.
Admission arrangements, which may include a catchment area for the new primary free school, would be decided by the sponsoring Multi Academy Trust. The trust that will operate the school will be selected through the Free School Presumption process.
The consultation process and Indicative timeline for opening a new primary free school
As per the timeline published below, this consultation will run for 5 weeks from Monday 1 March 2021 until Sunday 4 April 2021.
Nottinghamshire County Council will welcome responses to the consultation during this period.
The outcome of this initial consultation will be reported to Elected Members of the Children and Young People Committee, who will decide whether to proceed to with a Free School Presumption process. If this option is chosen, Nottinghamshire County Council would invite Multi-Academy Trusts to apply in September 2021 for selection to operate the new primary school, if that is the local authority’s decision.
Once proposals are received and have been evaluated, Nottinghamshire County Council will recommend a sponsor to the Regional Schools Commissioner who will make the final decision. Nottinghamshire County Council will then work with the successful sponsor and the housing developer to open the new school in September 2023.
|
Stage |
Indicative dates |
|
Initial consultation |
March 2021 |
|
Nottinghamshire County Council advertise for the submission of proposals from parties interested in sponsoring the new school |
Sep 2021 |
|
Nottinghamshire County Council evaluate the proposals received |
Jan 2022 |
|
Nottinghamshire County Council recommend a proposal to the DfE |
Jan 2022 |
|
Department for Education evaluation of proposals and notification to successful sponsor |
March 2022 |
|
School opens |
Sept 2023 |
