New Leeds free school plan is scrapped
A new primary to tackle a school places 'black hole' in North Leeds has been axed.
The school in Roundhay was supposed to provide much-needed additional pupil places for children in the north of the city – but the trust set up to run it was forced to pull out of the scheme as a result of a suitable site not being secured.
In a statement released last night, the Fair Access Schools Trust said it had taken “the very difficult decision to withdraw the free-school bid with immediate effect”, adding that “no further public money and resources should be wasted”.
It comes after Leeds City Council submitted a viability study to the Department for Education for Roundhay Park Lane East, however the site was found to be undeliverable from a planning and value-for-money perspective.
The statement from the “incredibly disappointed” trust said: “We had been warned that if the site put forward by the council was not found to be viable that there would be no other option left but to cancel the project.”