A significant new housing development of 2,500 homes in Ashton Park, located southeast of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, has received planning approval despite uncertainty over the construction of a secondary school. This project represents the county’s largest residential expansion.
The development plan includes 14 hectares dedicated to employment land, two primary schools, and an allocated site for a secondary school. However, during the Wiltshire Council strategic planning committee meeting on July 29, members expressed concerns about the term “allocation,” seeking clarity on whether a new secondary school would actually be built.
Council officers explained that due to a declining birth rate and existing undersubscription at Trowbridge’s two secondary schools—John of Gaunt and Clarendon—the financial justification for a third school is currently weak.
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This announcement drew frustration from Cllr Stewart Palmén (Lib Dem, Trowbridge Central), the portfolio holder for schools, as well as committee chairman Ernie Clark (Independent, Hilperton), who raised concerns about the lack of a secondary school for villages east of Trowbridge.
As a result, while space for a secondary school has been reserved and developers will provide essential infrastructure such as water, electricity, and broadband, the school itself may never be constructed unless demand increases.
Councillor Jon Hubbard, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, education, and skills, emphasized: “Although land for a new secondary school has been allocated, there is currently a surplus of 400 secondary school places locally and a falling birth rate. Consequently, there isn’t sufficient demand to justify building a new secondary school at this time.”
He added that the council will continue to monitor the situation and has secured land to enable the future construction of a secondary school should the need arise.
Without a new secondary school on site, families in Ashton Park will face a daily commute of approximately three and a half miles through the congested center of Trowbridge to access secondary education.