Working with the council and combined authority

10th August 2023 | 2 min read

We wanted to provide an update on the delivery of primary school places at Waverley, which is important to many residents.

Ensuring good school place provision over the coming years is a priority for us. New residential development creates additional demand for school places, and we know there are concerns from some families around availability of places for local children.

School provision is determined by RMBC and the Department for Education (DfE) but in recent years we have worked closely with both to help address the challenges around school places.

The provision of school places at Waverley is linked to the number of new homes that are being built. When Harworth received planning consent for Waverley in 2010, we committed to making financial contributions to support the provision of school places across the development, with four forms of entry in total, across two schools. This was based on the number of homes initially planned to be built at Waverley, which was higher density than what has been delivered – and included more terraced housing and apartments.

As the development has progressed over the years, we have regularly reviewed our masterplan and sought to ensure the homes we build respond to the needs of the local housing market. As a result of this, we have delivered a lower density development of estate housing.

We have been in close discussion with RMBC and the DfE in recent years, and based on the number of homes expected to be delivered at Waverley, it has been agreed that – in with national and local government policy – three forms of primary school entry are needed across the development. This can be delivered within one school.

We are now working collaboratively with RMBC to deliver this third form of entry within Waverley Junior Academy. This school has been designed and built to accommodate a future extension.

We know that the community wants to see more school places made available as soon as possible, and in response to this Harworth made an early financial contribution to RMBC to support the delivery of the third form of entry earlier than envisaged. It is anticipated this will be open by 2026, creating more school places for local children.