Comment

Representation ID: 43905

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Department of Education

Site Allocations

The site allocations policies should also seek to clarify requirements for the delivery of new schools, including when they should be delivered to support
housing growth, the minimum site area required, any preferred site characteristics, and any requirements for safeguarding additional land for future expansion of schools where need and demand indicates this might be
necessary.

Viability assessment should inform options analysis and site selection, with site typologies reflecting the type and size of developments that are envisaged in the
borough/district. This enables an informed judgement about which developments would be able to deliver the range of infrastructure required, including schools,
leading to policy requirements that are fair, realistic and evidence based. In accordance with Planning Practice Guidance, there should be an initial assumption that applicable developments will provide both land and funding for the construction of new schools. The total cumulative cost of complying with all relevant policies should not undermine deliverability of the plan, so it is important that anticipated education needs, and costs of provision are incorporated at the outset, to inform local decisions about site selection and infrastructure priorities.

While it is important to provide this clarity and certainty to developers and the communities affected by development, retaining a degree of flexibility about site
specific requirements for schools is also necessary given that the need for school places can vary over time due to the many variables affecting it.

The department would like to be included as early as possible in discussions on potential site allocations, as there are central wave pipeline free school projects
in Walsall (Darlaston Technology Primary, and Swift Academy) and Wolverhampton (Wednesfield Technology Primary) which may be appropriate for specific designation. We would welcome the opportunity to meet
with the Council in the near future to discuss these projects.