PLANS to extend Melksham Oak Community School are in the pipeline as the demand on secondary school places in the area is set to dramatically increase.
Melksham Oak School will discuss with Wiltshire Council plans to expand the school site to accommodate the predicated 248 extra secondary aged pupils expected to come from the 1,066 houses being built in Melksham in the next 10 years.
According to figures in Wiltshire Council’s School Places Strategy report, by the 2020/21 school year, there will be a shortfall of 52 places at Melksham Oak School, in 2021/22 a shortfall of 131 places and in 2025/26 a shortfall of 386 places. Wiltshire Council plan to have extended the school by 2020 to cope with the demand that the additional housing brings.
Wiltshire Council has been criticised in recent months for not having control over housing developments in Melksham and with several planning applications for housing estates in various different stages, Melksham will have over ten years’ worth of home built in the near future.
Melksham Oak headteacher, Stephen Clark said, “We are pleased to be working with Wiltshire Council in planning our expansion to meet the needs of our community.
“We look forward to a new build that enhances our already excellent facilities. We look forward to sharing more details in Spring 2017”