Knowsley Council’s Cabinet has approved a £1.87m investment to create new primary school places in Whiston to accommodate a growing demand for school places. Funding has been secured from the nearby Halsnead Garden Village development.

Thanks to a collaborative partnership between Knowsley Council and the Wade Deacon Trust and funding secured from housing developers creating new homes at the Garden Village, an additional 90 school places will be created at the ‘Outstanding’ Whiston Willis Primary Academy

This expansion is being funded by £1.35m in Section 106 developer contributions, with the remaining £521,000 provided by the Wade Deacon Academy Trust.

Cllr David Lonergan, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “Having reached the milestone of 200 occupied homes at Halsnead Garden Village, I am delighted that we are able to provide additional school places in readiness to meet increasing demand.

“We not only wanted to ensure there was sufficient capacity for current and new residents but that we also supported existing local schools – that we know are well regarded and performing well – to expand and welcome more children and help integration into our communities. This is just the first phase of our plan. We will continue to monitor demand to ensure additional places will be created when they are needed.”

In all, it is anticipated that over £6.5m will be secured in Section 106 developer contributions from the Halsnead Garden Village development to fund the creation of new primary school places.

The Council is keen to support established schools in the local area that are judged to be “Outstanding” or “Good” by Ofsted that can accommodate an increased intake.

Halsnead Garden Village is the largest combined housing and employment development in the Liverpool City Region, delivering approximately 1,600 new, quality homes and at least 22.5 hectares of employment land.

Halsnead Garden Village will also provide 33 hectares of new greenspaces and a new, 28 hectare Country Park.