Member Article

Ceremony celebrates start of construction on new Essex primary school and nursery

A ground breaking ceremony has been held to mark the start of building work at a brand new primary school and Nursery in the Essex village of Runwell.

Held on the 11th November at the site of the future St Luke’s Park Primary School and Nursery, the ceremony was hosted by Morgan Sindall Construction, which is the main contractor on the project, and was attended by Essex County Councillors Tony Ball and Ian Grundy.

Morgan Sindall Construction’s Essex business has been appointed to deliver the £5.5m scheme under the current Essex County Council Framework (ECF2). The project team, together with Concertus design and property consultants, have taken the project from feasibility and planning to the project commencing on site. The Eveleigh LINK Academy Trust has been appointed to manage the primary school section of the site.

Built on the former Runwell Hospital site in St Luke’s Way and due to open in September 2022, the one form school will provide 210 primary and 56 nursery places for families in the new 575-home St Luke’s Park development.

Peter Whitmore, Managing Director for Morgan Sindall Construction’s East region, said: “We’re excited to be hosting this ground breaking ceremony, which signals an important step in not just the creation of a new educational facility but also in the evolution of the Runwell community.

“Demand for both school and early years and childcare places in the Chelmsford district has risen significantly and St Luke’s Park Primary School and Nursery will play a key role in meeting this requirement with a high-quality learning environment. At Morgan Sindall Construction we have a lot of experience in delivering first-class schools that enrich the local area and we’ve applied this expertise to this project to ensure that it supports the area’s families and their children for generations to come.

“We’re looking forward to working closely with Essex County Council, our site neighbours and the whole project team as we move forward with the delivery of Runwell’s brand new school.”

Tony Ball, Essex County Councillor, said: “The building of St Luke’s Park Primary school and nursery will be invaluable to the local community in Runwell and will create more high quality school and nursery places locally through these new state-of-the-art facilities.  

“I was delighted to attend the ground breaking ceremony at the site and I look forward to taking a tour around the new school once it is complete.”

The Trustees of The Eveleigh LINK Academy Trust (TELAT) have warmly received the announcement from the Dept. of Education’s Regional Schools Commissioner that following a successful presentation in June that The Eveleigh Link Academy Trust has been awarded the sponsorship of a new primary school on the St. Luke’s Park Development at Runwell near Wickford in Essex.

Mr Joe Figg, TELAT’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We made a very strong case to the selection panel and are absolutely delighted at the outcome. It’s a perfect fit for our ambitions and capacity to grow the number of schools under the already successful TELAT umbrella!

“We will deliver on our promises and have pledged to work in close partnership with the local community and all interested stakeholders”.

The one-form entry school will include state-of-the-art teaching facilities in both the primary and nursery sections of the site as well as sports pitches and external hard play areas.

The project’s design incorporates architectural features into the buildings and soft landscaping that mirrors the nearby historic chapel and the wider St Luke’s Park development. This includes a masonry façade that matches the neighbouring buildings and an aluminium PPC protrusion that complements the chapel will delineate the main pupil entrance. The school’s soft and hard landscaping will align with the existing communal space and contain similar elements such as gabion features and resin paving.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Edward Hawkins .