Plans revealed for new Peterborough secondary school

Last year, the 4Cs academy trust, with support from Peterborough City Council, was successful in bidding for funding from the Department for Education (DfE) for Manor Drive Secondary - on land at Paston Reserve, as part of wave 13 of the free schools program. This follows the trust’s successful bid for Manor Drive Primary in wave 12, also to be built on at Paston Reserve.

The council, assisted by its technical advisers Rider Levett Bucknall, has now appointed Wates to oversee the construction of the schools, subject to planning permission being granted. Wates has launched an online public consultation into the plans, prior to submission of the full planning application on 3 July.

If the application is approved, it is anticipated that construction will begin in February 2021 and the schools will open in September 2022 providing 420 primary places, 26 nursery places and 900 secondary places.

Councillor John Holdich, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “Peterborough is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK and we expect this trend to continue, so finding new school places is an urgent and ongoing challenge.

“We were delighted to get the go-ahead for funding for the Manor Drive Academy at Paston Reserve last year, as only 18 per cent of the Wave 12 and 13 applications were successful. As with any application, it’s vitally important that residents give their views so we would encourage people to take part in the consultation.”

Ian Vickers, Wates Construction Managing Director for the East of England, said: “As a business we have always focused on delivering key public sector school projects like Manor Drive Academy. We are extremely excited to begin working with PCC, RLB and the 4C’s academy trust following the competitive stage of the project and are very much looking forward to delivering the project for Peterborough.”

Simon Spencer, Associate Project Manager for Rider Levett Bucknall, said: “We are delighted to continue our relationship working with the council and help to deliver what will be a fantastic school project for the local community and wider city.”

The consultation runs until Friday 26 June and can be viewed at https://wates-tenders.co.uk/manordrive/masterplan/