A free school could be built on the site of a large former fruit and vegetable market in Old Swan.
Liverpool Council ’s cabinet is to take a decision this week about whether to dispose of the unoccupied almost nine acre site on Prescot Road. The land is to be declared surplus to requirements and to be disposed of for educational use only.
As a result, the Department for Education (DfE) will be offered the location to build a new free school as the local authority wrestles with the challenges of a lack of school places across the city. The cabinet report said by 2026, Liverpool will be 370 places short for year seven pupils across its schools.
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It said: “The council is facing a significant challenge in providing sufficient secondary school places, particularly in good or outstanding schools. Projected numbers show a significant shortfall of year 7 places. The council cannot meet this need within current secondary school provision.
“There are several schools that are significantly oversubscribed and a small proportion that are significantly undersubscribed. Therefore, the balance of provision across the city needs to be managed and redistributed accordingly.”
As a result, it has been proposed to dispose of the premises for educational use only, subject to planning, for the purpose of constructing a new free school or academy in which to meet pupil place sufficiency by the year 2025. The estimated value of the current site is between £250,000 to £1m depending on land use.
The site would be handed over to the DfE for a peppercorn rent on a 125 year lease. Any new school would be directly funded by the department. In addition to secondary school places, Liverpool Council also faces a challenge of identifying a replacement facility for the existing St Anne (Stanley) Primary school on Prescot Road.
The report said “the existing premises is Victorian in character and in a somewhat dilapidated condition. The structural integrity has been compromised resulting in many steel column supports throughout the building.
“Not only is this unsightly, but it also presents a potential hazard and is totally unsuitable for primary school children.” The Diocese that manages St Anne’s previously identified part of the former fruit and veg site as being a suitable location for a new site.
The council said further investigation is required to assess whether both schools could occupy the land and “through careful planning it may be technically possible”. It was said this could be through reprovision of play areas elsewhere in the immediate vicinity e.g., by releasing the land currently occupied by the existing St Anne’s (Stanley) primary school as playing fields.
The disposal of the land will be discussed by the council’s executive committee on Friday morning.
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