Progress on extension to Alnwick’s new school

The planning application to extend Alnwick’s new school so it can become an 11-to-18 secondary school is currently with the county council.The consultation period for the scheme, for a ‘proposed extension to new school and development of site for landscaping, sports and parking facilities’, ends on April 13.The proposals will essentially add a fourth spur, or finger, to the spine of the building currently under construction at Greensfield, accessed from Willowburn Avenue.The extension will expand the school from the current 1,115 by some 500 places to a secondary school catering for 1,615 pupils.The proposal allows for construction of the new extension while the existing school remains in operation.It would need to be ready by September 2017 for the arrival of Years 7 and 8 following the closure of the partnership’s four middle schools – three in Alnwick and one in Seahouses.