WILTSHIRE Council agrees to give more than £5m for the build of the new Silverwood special school.

Cabinet has confirmed that an additional £5.5283m of capital cash will be set aside for the school extension.

The build will see an extension built on the existing Rowdeford site to accommodate up to 400 pupils as part of a new special school (Silverwood) by September 2023.

Silverwood in Rowde, is an amalgamation of the St Nicholas, Rowdeford and Larkrise school.

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This more than £5m in capital spend will be seen as £3m in 2023/24 and £2.283m in 2024/5.

The St Nicholas and Larkrise schools will stay open until the new school is ready for pupils and the council notes “appropriate to consider children/young people transitioning to the new site at Rowdeford”.

The extra funding is part of the estimated £33.194m which was agreed at full council in February 2020.

This increase in the budget has been levelled at the “extreme volatility” in the construction industry around the cost of materials.

It is hoped that Silverwood will be a centre for excellence.

Jane Davies, cabinet member for SEND said the council did not want to reduce the facilities or floor space for the pupil’s requirements.

“Demand in special school places is continuing to rise nationally and in Wiltshire,” she said. “Government projects are that special school place demand will continue to rise until 2024 before levelling off and very gradually decreasing.”

Silverwood opened in September 2020, place numbers have already risen, and the new places is urgently needed to support those pupils, the cabinet member said.

“If capital cannot be identified and we risk not being able to deliver those places on time, and this would mean we would either have to place learners in temporary accommodation, which in itself would cost £0.72m capital and £0.2m in revenue, or the independent sector,” she continued.

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“Independent sector places would place pressure on the high needs block. Whole-time education for five children, if placed in the independent sector in reception, would be £3.7m for 14 years plus transport costs.”

Deputy leader of the council Laura Mayes asked how it was ensured that the costs would not continue to rise throughout the build and what the total cost will be.

Cllr Davies confirmed that the contract would be a fixed cost and that the council are still working on a final cost plan.

A final build contract is expected to be signed with Willmott Dixon in autumn 2021.

To view the planning application and to make comment for Silverwood School, please click here.