£2.5m Barnsley primary school expansion approved to meet demand from new housing developments

Birkwood Primary in Cudworth, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted, will be expanded to accept 140 extra pupils under the £2.5m plans.

Following the adoption of Barnsley’s local plan in 2019, more school places are needed to support demand from the projected housing growth in the area.

More than 870 new homes are set to be built in Cudworth in the next 11 years, equating to a 17 per cent increase in dwellings for the area.

A report to BMBC’s cabinet states that housing developers building in Cudworth have entered into a legal agreements to contribute cash towards education provision.

Barratt Homes, who are currently building almost 280 homes at CarrsLane, contributed £925,000 towards primary school provision, specifically at Birkwood Primary.

The government will fund £1.51m, and developer contributions, will contribute a total of £990,000.

As part of the plans, Cudworth Family Centre will be permanently moved to the Cudworth IKIC building, to make space for additional classrooms.

The work will take place over two years, with the main work taking place during the summer holidays to avoid disruption.

Councillor Trevor Cave, cabinet spokesperson for children’s services told the meeting: “Current pupil projections and housing development trajectories indicate significant pressure on primary school places, and that further school places will be required.

“The expansion proposal for Birkwood Primary based over a two year period will increase the school’s pupil admission number from 40 to 60 pupils, creating an additional 20 places per year group, or 140 additional places overall.”

Councillor Chris Lamb, cabinet spokesperson for environment and transport, told the meeting that councillors “have in the past raised concerns ” about ” inconsiderate and dangerous parking” outside the school.

“We only expect that we will see more traffic in that facility, and particularly where we’ll have SEND children as well.

“I would appreciate if the highways network manager could be consulted, so we’ll just take a look to make sure that all that possibly can be done is done, in order to make sure that the roads along this school are safe.”