A new secondary school could be built with £20m grant for Wiltshire

6.42.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 19th Nov 2005

The Government has awarded Wiltshire County Council a £20m grant for under its Building Schools for the Future programme. The Council is currently considering bids for a secondary school in the county to be re-built using this grant.

Lib Dem County Councillor Steve Oldrieve says the money should be used to build a new secondary school east of Trowbridge.

"I will be pressing the chief education officer and cabinet portfolio holder to put the much needed fourth secondary school for East Trowbridge into the shortlist for selection."

Local Liberal Democrats have consistently supported parents' calls for a new school east of Trowbridge:

"New homes near Melksham and Trowbridge bring new families and growing pressure on school places. We don't need to keep squeezing extra pupils into West Wiltshire's large secondary schools. These new and growing communities deserve a new school." says local Lib Dem spokesman Cllr Duncan Hames.

A decision from the County Council is expected by early December.