PLANS for a new £7million primary school to cope with the demand from a spate of newly built houses are moving forward.

Somerset County Council's cabinet met to discuss the proposed plan for the 14-class school this morning (Wednesday).

The new school, on the Nerrols Farm site where both Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes have new homes for sale, will be a two-storey building used to meet the demand in the area, aiming to open by September 2019.

The new primary school nearby, West Monkton Primary School, is expected to be at capacity by the time the school will open.

Somerset County Gazette:

Carol Bond, project manager, said: "As a result of significant demographic growth an the initial housing development at Nerrols Farm, a new 14 class primary school is required to meet the demand for additional places as there are insufficient existing school places in the area and existing schools cannot be expanded sufficiently to meet the demand."

Ms Bond explained that at risk, only seven of the classrooms will be needed, but all 14 will be built at the same time to reduce interruption with any building works. Only seven classrooms will be kitted out with the IT systems and furniture at first.

Cllr Simon Coles questioned whether the project would be delivered on time.

The officers responsible reassured the room, stating that 17 out of 18 projects undertaken this year have been completed on time.

Cllr Christine Lawrence asked if the two-storey building would have disabled access, to which Ms Bond replied that it would, as well as looking at other features such as an accessible rec room and a therapy suite.

The councillors agreed to approve the appointment of a contractor, approve the costs, and agreed to allow officials to finalise the contracts.