Menu

Favoured site for new Higher Bartle secondary school needs to be secured by March

Posted on - 21st January, 2025 - 7:00am | Author - | Posted in - Education, Ingol, Politics, Preston News, Schools
Proposed Higher Bartle school site, off Sandy Lane
Proposed Higher Bartle school site, off Sandy Lane

The favoured site for a new secondary school in Preston needs to be in Lancashire County Council’s hands within the next two months – or the facility will have to be built somewhere else.

The land, at Higher Bartle, has been reserved for the 600-pupil establishment since planning permission was granted for a major new housing estate there three years ago.

However, by last autumn, County Hall was instead poised to develop the school on the former Tulketh High site in Ingol, because of a delay in taking control of the originally earmarked plot.  But just before that move was given the green light, the authority learned that it may be able to acquire the Higher Bartle land – which sits east of Sandy Lane and west of Tabley Lane – in time to have the new school open by the point at which the extra places are needed in September 2027.

Read more: Council ditches flood-risk policy of not actively cleaning drains that will leave residents ‘staggered’

Cabinet members agreed to keep their options open until the turn of this year, with education and skills portfolio holder Jayne Rear acknowledging that Ingol was not the “preferred” place to build the secondary.

In an update to cabinet colleagues this week, she said that although develop Taylor Wimpey – which is building 320 homes on the wider Higher Bartle site – had still not finalised the purchase of the land, the current owner had agreed to give the county council access so that it could carry out a vital “topographical survey” later this month.

Higher Bartle housing development
Higher Bartle housing development

Asked by deputy Labour opposition group leader Jennifer Mein what the ultimate “cut-off point” would be for having to abandon Higher Bartle as a possibility and pursue “plan B” at Ingol, deputy county council leader Alan Vincent said he believed it was “late March”.

County Cllr Rear added the timescale was now “very tight”, explaining:  “Acquisition of the site is dependent on…Taylor Wimpey completing their purchase of [it] – and we are advised that this should take place in early 2025.  This will instigate a process to transfer the land to the council and may impact upon the delivery timetable.

“I’ve asked that offices accelerate the design work and keep pressure on the developer to release the land, with a detailed timeline for delivery in March.”

The meeting at which the matter was discussed heard a “desktop feasibility study” had shown the Higher Bartle plot was potentially capable of accommodating the school, but that the on-site topographical work was necessary in order to garner “more detailed information about the condition of the land”. The process was “essential to enable us to develop a full scheme and [calculate] indicative costs”, County Cllr Rear said.

Approval of the High Bartle housing estate – which was given by Preston City Council in January 2022 – hinged on some of the land being earmarked for the school for a nominal fee.  The facility has been in the pipeline for eight years to meet the need for extra pupil places generated by a 20-year plan to develop around 5,500 homes across North West Preston.

As the Local Democracy Reporting Service recently revealed, half of those properties have now been built – but the high school has never got off the ground.

Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.

Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines

Share
Preston in pictures Preston - Barclays Bank, 38 Fishergate 241019Preston - Co-operative Bank, 147 Church Street 241019Preston - Lloyds Bank, 94 Fishergate 241019Preston Bus StationTulketh Mill, PrestonArgento Lounge PrestonIMG_0046 waiting for a trainA little piece of history View more
Advertisement
Subscribe to the newsletter

Sign up below to receive Blog Preston's email newsletter. It wings its way into inboxes every Sunday and Wednesday rounding up our top stories and more.

Advertisement
News by location

Find news by location, select an area of your choice to be kept up to date with the latest goings on.

The Preston Guide

Discover local businesses and services near you.

Advertisement
Categories

Find news by category, select an category of your choice to be kept up to date with the latest goings on.

Blog Preston email updates

Receive our digest of the biggest and best stories every Sunday to your email inbox

We respect your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any time from our emails