Plans to replace Leominster’s Minster College at a cost £20 million are set to be unveiled to the public this week.
Parents, children and residents in Leominster are invited to comment on architect’s plans for the new school, which will have room to accommodate 900 pupils, 120 of which will be sixth-form students.
Contractors are currently preparing detailed designs for further approval, but initial feasibility plans for the new building have been drawn up and placed in the school foyer.
Draft plans show a three-storey and a two-storey teaching block, together with improved access and a new car park off South Street. A planning application has been submitted to install five portable buildings on the college site which will provide ten classrooms and allow demolition work to begin in next month.
Provisional targets are in place for building work to start in the autumn term with an anticipated completion date of December 2010.
Building work will also encompass a replacement youth centre which will be constructed on the site of the school’s ageing design technology workshops.
A formal consultation meeting has been arranged for later in the year but, in the meantime, the college is keen for parents and children to see the plans. Minister College principal, Richard North, said: “We are very excited about the plans and want to share them with as many people as we can. There is still time to incorporate people’s views into the plans before building work begins. Many professionals will be involved in developing the detailed plans, liaising with staff and council officers to make sure the final design of the building will enable us to provide the best possible education for our pupils.
“It is very important that pupils, their parents and the local community also have their say on the design of this new facility which is why we are inviting visitors to come and look at the draft plans prior to formal consultation.”
