Tulketh High School row prompts new consultation - but building will still be demolished
In December, a consultation was launched on plans to build a new high school on the site of a disused and decrepit one in Preston. Four months on, Lancashire County Council has responded to the 'negative' feedback with plans to launch another consultation.
Last October, the county council's cabinet agreed an influx of housing developments means there was a need for more secondary school places within Preston and noted that the existing 10 schools have limited scope for expansion. That led to the plan to look at the Tulketh High site, with the hope that building could begin as soon as this summer ahead of a 2025 opening for a facility capable of holding 600 pupils.
Speaking in December, he said: "Are we really wanting all that traffic – with the associated pollution, congestion and safety concerns – to go down Tag Lane, Woodplumpton Road and Cadley Causeway or use the proposed Cottam Brickworks development as a cut through? The closure of the old Tulketh High School was a controversial one at the time, but redeveloping the site as a school now doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.
A report prepared for that meeting indicates a new consultation will be held on how to solve the school place problem and that demolition of the Tulketh High School buildings will continue regardless. The cost of this work has not been made public.