| Witham is set for the biggest ever investment in secondary education in the area following a decision by central government to secure the funding for two brand new schools for New Rickstones and Maltings Academies.
Each Academy will have its teaching and learning facilities transformed with new building programmes worth over £25 million each on their present sites in Conrad Road and Spinks Lane. Construction work is due to be completed by September 2011.
A large team is working to replace Maltings and New Rickstones buildings with the best that money can buy for September 2011. Together with the Trust, the two Academies, Braintree District and Essex County Council, the Design User Group embraces leading representatives from national companies. These include Carillion, the
building contractor who will be appointing the design architects; Mott MacDonald, who will be running the whole project; Partnership for Schools, the public body responsible for delivering the Government’s ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme in the secondary sector; as well as from the Government’s Department for Children, Schools & Families. Such a massive investment will have huge benefits for the local Witham economy.
Ian Foster, Chairman of the Academies Enterprise Trust, has called for the contractor to ensure as many jobs as possible go to the local workforce. He said, ‘I am excited at the prospect of massive investment in educational and leisure facilities in Witham. It creates excellent opportunities, not just for the Academies but for the local community as well.
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