New Darwin Green school date 'wildly optimistic'

A parent fears it is "wildly optimistic" a long-awaited secondary school will be built by the end of 2028, calling it a "failure of local government".

Darwin Green secondary school in Cambridge had initially hoped to open its doors to pupils in September 2020, but it still does not have planning permission.

David Russell, whose daughter is in year three, said after attending a public meeting about the project he had "no faith it will be open by 2029 either", the year she starts secondary school.

Cambridgeshire County Council said it was "liaising closely" with the developer while the trust behind the school acknowledged families would be frustrated by the delays.

Council papers previously said the school - in the northwest of the city where major development is ongoing - "needs to open in September 2020 if the council is to meet the needs of the new communities and avoid a shortfall in provision in the local area."

Alison Cramer, from the authority, acknowledged in a public meeting in Eddington on Thursday there was "more demand than we have capacity for in this area".

Russell said the plans for the school "look comprehensive", but added: "We're all aware how long developments actually take. Their timeframes seem wildly optimistic based on what they've done so far."

The 52-year-old said they "currently have no school" for their daughter at secondary level.

Dani Cattani has a daughter in year four and said after the meeting: "They tried a lot to reassure us but, in the end, they cannot promise us that it's going to be open by 2028."

The meeting was told of a possible option to have the first cohort of children for the new school in an alternative location, such as seven miles (11.2km) away at Northstowe Primary School.

Cattani said: "We have a developer that's building lots of new houses with lots of new families coming in but not prioritising the secondary school that's supposed to be already there so I'm not very happy about this option of having my child travelling to another secondary school far away from Cambridge.

"In my opinion the local authority is supposed to say if you want to build houses you have to build the services first... otherwise they will build the houses and not build the services because no-one and held them accountable for what they're supposed to do."

Local Liberal Democrat county councillor Rory Clark said: "There's no single point of failure here but there is there is blame to go around."

Of the option to open a school elsewhere, he said: "It will be up to families and students to give their input... and if they say 'absolutely not, we don't want this' then that will be listened to".

A spokesperson for the council said it was "liaising closely with the Darwin Green developer around access to the site, site condition and site infrastructure, as we know these are key risks to the new secondary school's delivery timeline".

It added they were working in partnership with the Meridian Trust, which will run the school when it opens.

The trust said the "timing is beyond our control", adding: "We understand that families will be frustrated by the delays to the new Darwin Green secondary school and share their desire to see high-quality provision in place as soon as possible."

Developer Barratt and David Wilson Homes South Midlands said: "We are aware the council is preparing a planning application for the secondary school at Darwin Green.

"As we do not own this land and the timings for delivery of the school are subject to the planning application, this is a matter for the council rather than us."

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