Plans for new building at Wiltshire school waved through
A new sixth form block will be build at Abbeyfield School in Chippenham
Plans to build a new building at a Wiltshire secondary school, boosting school roll numbers by 50 per cent, have been waved through with the unanimous support of councillors.
The strategic planning committee of Wiltshire Council took less than 20 minutes to grant itself planning permission for the expansion plans at Abbeyfield School, which were first revealed in 2023.
The expansion will see the school cater for a further 450 pupils at the 1,071-pupil school, at Stanley Lane in Chippenham.
The school currently has 900 pupils aged between 11 and 16 and a further 171 pupils in the sixth form.
A new sixth form block will be constructed at Landers Field – separate from, but close to, the existing school building.
Moving sixth formers into the new building will free up space in the existing school building, councillors were told.
The block will be built in three phases, accommodating 150 pupils in each phase, with competition of the first phase expected in 2027.
Road improvements to accommodate the expansion will be paid for from contributions from the developer building 150 houses immediately opposite the school, the meeting heard.
Only one councillor questioned the application. Cllr Philip Alford (Melksham Without North & Shurnhold, Conservative) wanted to know why “two coachloads of children” were being bused from Melksham into Abbeyfield School when there are spaces at Melksham Oak Community School and Chippenham’s other two senior schools.
An officer from the council’s education department acknowledged there are spaces at Melksham Oak, but said parents had a choice about which school to send their children to.
She added that Hardenhuish School was at capacity with a waiting list, while Sheldon School had vacancies in the lower years, but was at capacity in the upper years.
Abbeyfield School, she said, did not have enough dining space or sports changing rooms, and the council was preparing for the construction of an extra 2,700 houses in Chippenham over the next few years.
“This will make a huge difference to the school,” she said.
The meeting heard that local concerns around traffic and ecology had been overcome and that while construction would not achieve Net Zero in Phase 1, due to the lack of roof space for solar panels, it would achieve certification by the end of Phase 3.