Councillors call on government to 'ensure' delayed Buckton Fields school opens in 2021

Councillors are set to call on the Department for Education to ‘ensure’ that the delayed Buckton Fields primary school is finally built for 2021.
The primary school is earmarked within the Buckton Fields development (top right) but has faced delays in openingThe primary school is earmarked within the Buckton Fields development (top right) but has faced delays in opening
The primary school is earmarked within the Buckton Fields development (top right) but has faced delays in opening

Last month the government announced it had shelved its plans to open the school for 2020. The Preston Hedges Academy Trust, which would have run the free school, said it had been advised by the DfE that a new school ‘couldn’t be justified’ for 2020 based on the projected pupil numbers in the development and capacity in other local schools.

The primary school was a major condition of granting planning permission for the 1,050 home Buckton Fields site, which is near Boughton but is technically within the Daventry district.

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Now Daventry District Council leader Chris Millar is backing a motion from fellow councillor John Shephard, which will be discussed at the next full council meeting on Wednesday, May 15.

It notes the view of the county council that delivery of a new school at Buckton Fields is ‘absolutely essential’ in ensuring NCC can continue to meet its statutory obligations of providing a sufficiency of school places past 2021.

The motion states: “This council profoundly regrets the decision of the Department For Education to fail to commit support enabling the primary school at Buckton Fields to open in September 2020.

“The Council invites the DfE to confirm that it will take the necessary steps to ensure opening of the school in September 2021.”

An education spokesman has previously said: “We will be keeping the Buckton Fields free school project and the need for an additional primary school in the local area under review.”

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