Wrotham School set to be rebuilt as part of Department for Education programme
Published: 11:53, 09 March 2023
Updated: 13:48, 09 March 2023
Councillors have approved multi-million pound plans to rebuild a school.
Wrotham School near Sevenoaks will be adapted to provide 265 more places from September 2025, following a decision by Kent County Council (KCC).
The academy in Borough Green Road is currently rated 'good' by Ofsted, and has more than 800 pupils.
It was selected to feature within a Department for Education (DfE) rebuilding programme in 2023.
The DfE - which will be managing the project - will provide £27.5 million for the project, and £6.8 million will come from KCC after councillors approved funding yesterday (Wednesday, March 8).
A report presented to councillors ahead of a meeting of the children's, young people, and education cabinet committee said the school has been taking on extra pupils to accommodate local demand since 2021, and will again this coming September.
The authority is putting up the funding for hiring out temporary classrooms.
The academy, which is run by Character Education Trust, would be able to offer an additional 45 places per year group from September 2025 under the plans, starting with that academic year's Year 7 intake.
The school will have to undertake a full consultation, and the DfE will be in charge of securing planning permission.
Officers explained to councillors how the school had been earmarked for a rebuild as it is in "poor condition" and needed to meet current demands for places, saying the allocation was not related to any future housing plans.
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council is currently working on its Local Plan; one of the proposals centres around building a garden village with 3,000 homes in Borough Green.
Malling West councillor Harry Rayner (Con) said a rebuild was "long overdue" saying he would like to see a transport plan implemented to tackle queuing traffic on the A227 Borough Green Road.
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Katie May Nelson, local democracy reporter