New schemes will create hundreds of extra school places

Hundreds of additional school places are set to be created for Peterborough city centre thanks to two newly approved projects.

Peterborough City Council’s Planning and Environmental Protection Committee has given the go- ahead to the projects at Queen’s Drive Infant School, in Queen’s Drive West, and Thomas Deacon Academy( TDA), in Queen’s Gardens.

Members voted unanimously in favour of the schemes, which aim to ease competition for places in the city centre.

The Queen’s Drive Infant School application will create two new classrooms, providing space for 60 more pupils.

The development would come at the loss of eight trees and members amended a condition to bring forward in time landscaping work which would include replacement planting.

The project at TDA will see the creation of a twostorey junior academy, which will have room for 350 pupils, aged seven to 11.

Members were told the start times of the academies would be staggered to ease traffic congestion, with TDA locking down at 8.45am and the new site opening for pupils at 9am. Concerns remained though. Cllr Nabil Shabbir said: “If we have got working parents who have got to go to work at 9am they are just going to come to the at the same time as the rest of the students.”

Nick Harding, group manager development officer at the city council, said despite such potential issues it was felt the road network could take the extra numbers coming to the site.

Councillor Nabil Shabbir