Tilbury Douglas starts work on two new schools
Construction has begun on the replacements for Longton Lane Community Primary School in St Helens and All Saints RC High School in Rossendale.
Both schools are part of the Department for Education’s School Rebuilding Programme, which sets out to construct 500 schools across the country over 10 years.
Following the completion of the new buildings, the older school structures will be demolished. Their replacements are set to be more sustainable, with solar panels and EV charging capability.
Tilbury Douglas Construction oversaw the approval of plans for the new schools last year. Longton Lane Community Primary School and All Saints RC High School are just two of the seven school buildings the contractor is working on for the Department for Education. Both schools are designed by Ellis Williams Architects.
Longton Lane Community Primary School will be 18,000 sq ft and hold four infant classrooms, two receptions, and eight junior teaching rooms. There will also be a specialised food tech area, studio, kitchen, and main hall. The school is off Longton Lane in Rainhill.
Regarding the new school, St Helens Council cabinet member for children and young people Cllr Nova Charlton said: “Being in a modern, vibrant school, built for the future can make a world of difference to pupils and staff, so I’m delighted to see this development underway which is an investment to enhance educational experience and will be a benefit to the wider community and environment, too, while helping us as a council achieve our key priority of ensuring children and young people have a positive start in life.”
The new three-storey All Saints RC Language College will be 45,700 sq ft and sit off Haslingden Road in Rawtenstall in Rossendale. The school includes various classrooms, a drama studio, a design technology workshop, an art room, science labs, a library, and a dining hall.
In addition to Ellis Williams, the project team for the two schools includes ICENI Projects, structural engineer AJP, mechanical engineer TACE, and highways consultant Hydrock.
Learn more about All Saints by searching application number 2023/0103 on Rossendale Council’s planning portal. You can learn more about Longton Lane by searching reference number P/2023/0155/FUL on St Helens Council’s planning portal.
Councillor Nova Charlton said that the new school would help the council achieve its key priority of ensuring children and young people have a positive start in life.
She clearly doesn’t see the irony in uttering these words in the week that the council closed Rainhill Library, the third best used library in the Borough, thus depriving the children of the best start in life they can have, the ability to borrow and read books.
By Devils Advocate