£5m jump in cost to build school

THE cost of a new Taunton primary school has risen by £5m since the designs were first put forward.

Orchard Grove primary will serve the residents of the 2,000-home Orchard Grove development being built at the western edge of Taunton.

Construction on the school is finally under way after planning permission was granted in January, with a “timber framing ceremony” held on Tuesday after the Orchard Grove developers’ consortium officially handed over the land to Somerset Council.

The school, which will be finished by next September, is now predicted to cost £12.3m £5m more than first budgeted.

When the project was announced in November 2021, the then Somerset County Council estimated it would cost £7.3m to build the school, which will have enough space for 420 pupils and could be expanded in the future to accommodate a further 210 pupils. By the time the school was granted planning permission, the cost had risen to £11.3m because of high inflation.

Now Somerset Council has confirmed that the expected bill will be £12.3m.

The school, which is part of the Castle Partnership Trust, will include a 52-place nursery, three sports pitches, a production kitchen and a library.

Somerset Council said the rise in cost for Orchard Grove would not take money away from other school building projects in the county, and gave assurances that further cost increases would be limited as far as possible.

A spokesman said: “This rise is primarily down to inflation, but also the additional costs relating to passivhaus/net zero which are greater than first estimated.

“We have not had to take away funds from other school projects.

“Additional Section 106 funding has been sought and additional capital has been committed by the local authority.”