New primary school detailed for Ellesmere Port

Situated on a three-acre plot at the heart of the future Ledsham Garden Village, the 315-place educational facility has a target opening date of September 2028.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has launched a consultation for the school ahead of submitting a reserved matters application early this summer for the building. The consultation, which runs until 2 March, can be accessed by going to cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/LedshamRoadSchool.

The two-storey school would be off Ledsham Road in the Ellesmere Port West community. Access would be from Kellerman Road, the spine road for the garden village.

It would be constructed in phases, with the first set to include space for 210 students to study and 26 children to attend nursery. There would also be a 10-place SEND provision. This first phase would open in Sept 2028.

The second phase would move forward as required given population demands, but would see the school expanded to accommodate an additional 105 students.

Cassidy + Ashton is leading on design and planning for the school. Additional support is coming from landscape architect Fenton & Reece, MEP engineer SED, and structural engineer J P Structural.

An academy trust operator for the school would be appointed in early 2027.

Ledsham Garden Village was allocated for up to 2,000 homes in Cheshire West and Chester Council’s 2015 local plan.

Housebuilder Redrow has been delivering the 260-acre scheme, having gained outline consent for the project in 2015. There are currently 1,647 homes in the development that have either been built or have planning permission.

In addition to the primary school, which is being built, in part, with funds from Redrow, other public infrastructure in the garden village include a local shop and sports pitches.

Cllr Adam Langan, CWAC cabinet member for children and young people, encouraged Cheshire residents to get involved in the consultation for the school.

“We want to hear the views of those living in Ledsham Garden Village and nearby so that we can take their feedback into account when the school’s design is finalised,” he said.

“The new school has been designed to offer a full range of facilities from 3-11 years of age alongside community uses and will have a comprehensive school travel plan to encourage walking, wheeling and cycling by both staff and pupils and reduce car journeys.”