Altrincham College expansion 'paused' as costs soar to £22m

Extra school places to be found at alternative sites

Town hall bosses in Trafford have ‘paused’ the expansion of Altrincham College because of soaring costs.

Plans were put forward to increase the capacity of the college by 300 to 1,200 last year due to the high demand for school places in the south of the borough.

However, the contractor appointed to deliver the works went into administration in September, causing further delays and additional costs, say Trafford council.

The local authority put the project out to tender again and the expected costs came in at £22m - amounting to £73,000 per school place.

Government grants for the project equate to £23,000 per school place, with the Department for Education benchmark average cost of expansions being £27,000 per school place, meaning the current scheme does not deliver best value, the council says.

A report to the authority’s executive has revealed the council has secured £5m of funding from the DfE to provide a further 15 school places per year group at Sale High School. They will be made available from September and are a permanent addition to the current offer.

The council is also continuing discussions to expand North Cestrian School, Altrincham, which it is believed could provide better value.

Coun Karina Carter, executive member for babies, children and young people, said: “We have fantastic schools in Trafford, and are very proud of them.

“For several years now, we have been working really hard to increase school places in the south of Trafford – and our schools have very much supported us in achieving this.

“But we cannot add school places at any price. There has to be value for money for residents and, unfortunately, the planned expansion of Altrincham College is not affordable at this time.

“I understand that this will be disappointing news for Altrincham College, and I would like to thank them for the collaborative way they have worked with the council. We will look to revisit these plans in future in line with planned developments in Davenport Green.”

The council claims it has a successful track record in providing additional school places. This includes the council supporting three successful bids to the school selective fund to increase capacity in grammar schools by 460 extra places.

It points to its support of the expansion of Blessed Thomas Holford School in Altrincham in 2021 by a further 400 places.

The council will continue to work tirelessly to secure further school places over the coming years.

The report will be considered by the executive at their meeting on 16 June.