School’s £8.5m plan to meet soaring demand (From Echo)

School’s £8.5m plan to meet soaring demand

1:00pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Basildon By Paul Offord

A SECONDARY school in Basildon is set to undergo a massive refurbishment.

The proposal for a new two-storey teaching block and a single-storey fitness suite, added to the existing sports hall and gym, at De La Salle School, in Ghyllgrove, Basildon, will cost £8.5 million.

It is understood the extended teaching block will contain a new art studio, IT lab, entrance, and dining area.

The existing kitchen and design and technology building will be demolished.

Essex County Council, which is responsible for managing schools across the county, has lodged a planning application with Basildon Council.

David Kirkman, Labour councillor for Fryerns ward, which covers the Ghyllgrove area, said: “This should increase capacity at De La Salle, which is very much needed because of the new housing is being built in the area, including the giant new housing estate in Gloucester Park.

“These new properties will be there, whether we like it or not. They will be home to large numbers of young people, who all need to go to school.”

Basildon Council has sold the former Gloucester Park Swimming Pool site and surrounding land, off Broadmayne, to building consortium Barratt Wilson Bowden, which plans to build around 500 homes.

De La Salle is a Catholic comprehensive school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 16.

The school’s regeneration project was among 12 in Essex to survive, when the Government axed the Building Schools for the Future programme in 2011.

James Hornsby High School, in Leinster Road, Laindon, also survived the spending cuts and is set to receive £2.5million for improvements, including IT upgrades.

Staff from De la Salle did not respond to the Echo’s requests for a comment on the plans.

However, a spokesman for Essex County Council, which oversees management of the school, said: “The council is in a procurement exercise to choose an intended contractor to undertake the work on the school. Until this procurement process is complete, no further details can be given out.”