Plans to dramatically expand three Leeds primary schools could go ahead as the council aims to meet rising demand for school places with limited funds.
Little London Community Primary School, in Little London, would see the sharpest increase in use, working towards tripling its number of pupils to 630 from September next year.
Sharp Lane Primary School, in Middleton, and Rufford Park Primary School, in Yeadon, would collectively take more than 300 extra pupils as Leeds City Council bids to meet rising demand as birth rates soar and thousands more homes are planned to bring new people to Leeds in the coming years.
But after council projections estimated it needed £70m of Government funds to meet targets, it was given just over half of that.
Coun Judith Blake, the council’s executive member for children’s services, said: ““With the new housing it’s going to be very difficult and there are going to be some very difficult negotiations with developers to accommodate the school places we need.”
She said that 1,500 new primary school places need to be created in Leeds by 2016.
Meanwhile plans to expand six other Leeds primary schools are out for public consultation, while proposals to expand Tranmere Park, in Guiseley, have been shelved due to concerns raised in consultation. Last week the National Audit Office found that by September 2014, England will need an extra 240,000 primary school places to keep up with rising birth rates.
Coun Blake added: “This is a programme we are working through, so by 2025 we are looking at needing an additional 42 primary schools and eight additional secondary schools.”
The council’s executive board is expected to decide on expanding the latest three schools on April 24.
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