New Schools are a Step Nearer

Date published: 25/05/2004

Rochdale's New Schools Programme has been given a major boost. On 11 May the Government approved the Council's plans to build six new schools and to make major improvements to another.

New primary schools will be built on the sites of Hamer, Hollin and Marland Hill Primary Schools, providing state-of-the-art facilities for children. Two new special schools will be located alongside Hamer and Hollin, whilst a third will be built at Oulder Hill Community School and Language College. The final part of the project will see Oulder Hill's buildings transformed to provide young people with access to excellent new facilities.

Government approval for the scheme means that the Council now has the go-ahead to appoint contractors to carry out the building work.

The new schools will be funded from Rochdale Council's £56.1m Private Finance Initiative (PFI) allocation.

Terry Piggott, Executive Director at Rochdale Council, said, "This project will provide access to some excellent facilities for children and young people. There's still a long way to go, but the Government has now guaranteed that they will meet the cost of improving the borough's schools. That is a major step forward."

Over the next two months contractors that are interested in bidding for the building work will be invited to visit the sites proposed for development to speak to headteachers and Council officers about the plans. It is expected that the Council and the successful contractors will sign contracts in Autumn 2005.