Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) plans to open a new secondary school on land west of Cambourne village. Key milestones include:
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Achieving planning permission for the new school in January 2012;
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A planned start date for construction of Monday 13 August 2012; and
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A fully operational school to be open by the commencement of the 2013 academic year.
The scheme is a high profile development being the first new secondary school constructed in Cambridgeshire in 30 years. There is understandably considerable local interest in the scheme; Cambourne residents and Councillors have been lobbying for some time for their own secondary school and at a district level neighbouring parishes are interested in the implications for existing catchment areas particularly related to Comberton.
The project comprises the construction of a new five forms of entry (5FE) secondary school which will provide a total of 750 places for pupils age 11-16, with associated external works including sports pitches and a new access road.
The facility is intended to meet the growing demand for secondary school places within the existing settlement of Cambourne. The demand is a result of birth rates significantly higher than national trends and the provision of an additional 950 house in the village making it much larger than originally planned.
This has meant that neighbouring Comberton Village College (VC), the catchment secondary school for pupils living in Cambourne, is now approaching operational capacity and will be full by September 2013.
The new secondary school will provide places for members of the existing Cambourne community and the children currently attending the three primary schools already established within the village and for the children of those families moving into the additional 950 new homes now being built in Cambourne.
The site being acquired by the Council for the secondary school will be large enough to also provide an additional or fourth primary school in Cambourne should it be required in the future.
Comberton VC has an excellent reputation for education delivery and the Comberton Village College Academy Trust, is the Council's preferred promoter for the scheme.
Comberton VC have been embedded in the design process throughout and made a significant contribution to the development of the final proposals along with extensive engagement with the following stakeholders: County and District Councils, Planning Officers, Parish Councils (Caxton, Cambourne and Bourne), local residents, the Cambridgeshire Design Quality Panel and the developer of Cambourne. The finalised project design has incorporated, where possible, the views of these stakeholders.
The project is being procured under the existing CCC Major Projects Framework utilising the Design & Build (D&B) procurement approach. Kier Eastern have been chosen to deliver the school with the design team lead by Architects Frank Shaw Associates Limited. The D&B approach has fully integrated the project delivery team and enabled the development of project proposals to planning approval stage within extremely challenging programme constraints.
Modern methods of construction will be adopted to deliver the new school. The main classroom wings have been designed to suit a modular, volumetric construction and this will be provided by Yorkon who are an integrated member of the design team. Other larger volume spaces will be constructed utilising cross laminated timber.
If you have any comments on our proposals please contact Alison Revell, Education Capital Projects Manager, by telephone on 01223 699996, or email at:
alison.revell@cambridgeshire.gov.uk