News: Contractor named for new Rotherham school

Work is now officially underway after a soil-cutting ceremony took place at Rotherham's newest school, Waverley Junior Academy.

Earlier this year, Rotherham Council's planning board approved plans for the school, which will serve the wider Waverley community and have a capacity of 420 pupils up to the age of 11.

It will be run by the Aston Community Education Trust (ACET), which already runs 11 other primary and secondary academies in South Yorkshire and North-East Derbyshire.

The trust and its construction contractors for the £7m project, Houlton, recently joined forces to break ground at the location of the new school, which is due to open its doors next year.

There is currently no school on the 250-home Waverley development, but local families will be able to apply for places for their children from August this year, ahead of the school opening in September 2020.

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Eunice Newton, CEO of the ACET, said: "It's wonderful to think that the ground where everyone was standing will be occupied by a brand-new school in just 14 months' time, and the soil-cutting ceremony certainly makes everything seem more real.

"There has been a tremendous amount of hard work that has gone into preparing the plans for the school and everybody will be able to see all that effort come to life over the next few months.

"We have also held an information event for prospective parents recently and there is a great deal of excitement. The whole community is behind this project and we’re looking forward to creating a school that Waverley can be proud of."

Cllr. Gordon Watson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Children and Young People's services at Rotherham Council, added: "The addition of this primary school to the Waverley development will not only meet the needs for the surrounding community, but will also be a great opportunity to create a school with the newest and best facilities, particularly in close proximity to the our world class manufacturing facility at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, which we hope to make the most of."

The school promises to be one of the most advanced educational facilities in Rotherham, with its own breakfast and after-school clubs, as well as a 10-place purpose-built autism resource unit which will cater for children from wider areas.

Hull-based Houlton have been busy in the borough. The marketing suite recently opened at The Bellows, a 58 dwelling housing project for Rotherham Council at Rawmarsh. It also carried out the work to create a £3.7m caravan site within the popular Rother Valley Country Park (RVCP) which opened earlier this year.

Geo. Houlton & Sons Ltd website

Images: Houlton / RMBC

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News: Houlton lands Rotherham housing construction contract

Hull-based Houlton Construction has won the contract for a long awaited housing development at Rawmarsh in Rotherham.

One of a number of projects to get started under Rotherham Council's new "Rother Living" brand is at Bellows Road in Rawmarsh where the regeneration of the former shopping centre has taken a number of years.

Planning permission was recently granted for 58 houses on vacant land. The brief for the development was to "provide a range of contemporary and stylish affordable homes to meet a range of people with shared ownership houses, to create a truly sustainable neighbourhood."

A range of apartments and houses are proposed.

Outline planning approval was granted in 2009 for a mixed-use development of retail and housing on the site but developers ROK went into administration shortly after. Plans for the first phase of retail progressed in cooperation with new council partners, Caddick Developments and new tenants on site included Tesco, Heron Foods, The Post Office and Vantage Chemist.

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Rotherham Council will be spending £50m over the next three years to build homes across the borough that meet the needs of residents and over half of the total will be council houses. Properties will be available to rent, part-own or buy.

In 2017, Rotherham Council was awarded £6.81m of grant funding through the Homes and Communities Agency's (HCA's) Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme (SOAHP).

WATES Residential Ltd, one of the Council's main construction partners, has already started on the "Site Clusters" programme that will see 217 homes built across seven sites in Maltby, Canklow, East Herringthorpe and Dinnington.

In addition, O&P construction has already begun work, including work on specialist bungalows and older people bungalows, on various smaller sites around the borough.

Cllr. Dominic Beck, Cabinet Member for Housing at Rotherham Council, said: "We are passionate about building more homes in the Rotherham as part of our ambitious plans to transform the borough, making it a destination where more people want to live, work, thrive and spend their leisure time.

"I am delighted that the construction of 336 homes is already underway and that a range of needs will be met, particularly older people through the 20 bungalows and 15 apartments being built, and homes for first time buyers – both concerns expressed by our residents when consulted on housing priorities."

Further schemes will be added to the housing building programme as the Council continues with its Masterplan for Rotherham town centre. The schemes are also set to bring with them employment and training opportunities for people in the borough.

Houlton Construction website

Images: Ecus Consulting / RMBC

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