LEEDS City Council decision-makers are expected to give the green light to £28million plans to rebuild and expand a school in Rawdon.

A report by Leeds City Council officers says Benton Park School needs to be completely rebuilt as a refurbishment alone would be too expensive.

Early plans for the rebuild were released in February and showed the school would have space for 1,500 pupils aged 11-16, increasing its capacity by around 275 pupils.

It is hoped the demolition and rebuild could be finished in time for the 2022/23 academic year.

According to the plans released earlier this year, the new facility would “house traditional classrooms, specialist teaching spaces, sports hall, performance hall and multifunctional community facilities”.

It added the demolition of the majority of the existing  Benton Park School would make way for a new all-weather pitch.

However, the current Block 7 of the school would become a dedicated sixth form centre with pedestrian links to the new building.

A new car park and external play areas would be created, while renewable energy technology and ‘sustainable design principles’ are expected to make the building more environmentally friendly.

A report, set to go before members of Leeds City Council’s Executive Board next week, calls on councillors to set the overall project budget for the redevelopment of Benton Park School at £28.5m and provide “approval to spend” on this figure. It adds the figure of £28.5m would cover all parts of the project, including the construction contract figure, off-site highways works, furniture and equipment.

It says: “Re-development of Benton Park School is necessary to address legacy condition issues and provide supplementary accommodation for the proposed increase in pupil numbers effective from September 2021.

“This will increase the published admissions number from 245 pupils per year to 300. Expansion and refurbishment of the existing facility is not financially or logistically feasible, as such full replacement of the core teaching accommodation is the most economically viable solution long-term.”

Since the formal timetable for plans panels have been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been claimed that council officers are looking at means of hosting these ‘virtually’. It is anticipated that Benton Park’s redevelopment will need to be tabled at one of these forums.

Timeline: 

May / June 2020 – A ‘virtual plans panel’ of decision-making councillors will look at detailed plans and decide whether to grant permission

June 2020 – Design Cost Report and contract award to developer

June 22, 2020 – Start on-site work

June – September 2021 – Phase 1 (new block) building and completion

September 2021-July 2022 – Phase 2 (demolition and externals) build period