Plans submitted for £10m Thanington Primary School on outskirts of Canterbury

An official bid to build a new primary school with up to 420 places has been launched – in a project that could cost £10 million.

Thanington Primary School is proposed to be constructed on land on the outskirts of Canterbury to cope with increased demand from large housing developments in the area.

It is anticipated to open in September next year, alongside a nursery accommodating up to 26 children under the age of four.

In papers put together by Kent County Council (KCC), those behind the scheme say the new school would take pressure off existing services and prevent maximum capacity from being exceeded.

“The proposals for a new build two-form-of-entry primary school seeks to provide education facilities to address the demand for primary school places generated by the major growth of the Thanington area of Canterbury,” say KCC officers.

“As it was not possible to expand other local primary schools, it has been established that a new 2FE primary school is required in Thanington.

“The location of a school in this area will benefit local traffic conditions, as the need to travel across Canterbury to other schools is negated.

“We can see no reason why planning permission should not be granted, subject to appropriate conditions being imposed.”

The school would accommodate two classes per year group – with as many as 420 places for pupils aged four to 11.

However, the implementation of the two-form system would be split into separate phases, with only one class of 30 in each year group initially.

Council bosses say this is “to ensure that there are not too many primary school places in Canterbury and that additional places are brought forward as demand increases”.

The L-shaped building would open with six classrooms and a specialist teaching space, with eight more rooms to be built once demand reaches the level required to fill them.

There would be an early years play area as well as a multi-use games area – which could be expanded when more pupils are on the school roll – and a football pitch towards the back of the site.

The hunt for an academy sponsor to take on the new school is still underway.

A one-way system is to be implemented through the car park to enable parents to drop off and pick up their children, with four drop-off bays provided at the front of the school.

This would be alongside 48 car parking spaces, as well as 30 cycle spaces and space for 60 scooters.

The new primary school will serve the 1,150 homes already being built in the Thanington area – with two major developments contributing to the dramatic rise in the population of the parish.

The 400-home Cockering Farm estate was given the green light by the city council in 2018 and will be spread across former farmland between the A28, Milton Manor Road and Cockering Road.

Also nearby is the 750-home Saxon Fields development, with construction well underway.

Meanwhile, a planning application has been submitted to bulldoze the six-bedroom Milton Manor House to make way for 95 homes.

Developer contributions totalling £6.4m have been requested for the primary school and it is estimated KCC will provide £3.5m. These amounts are subject to further decision making once costs are established.

The money has been secured through a section 106 agreement, which is a contract between a council and a developer as part of granting planning permission for nearby housing.