Mid Sussex District Council in the UK has approved plans for the construction of a new secondary school in Burgess Hill.
The new school will be constructed at the new Brookleigh development of Homes England near Burgess Hill.
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It will provide education to families of the 3,500 homes of the development as well as the surrounding area.
The West Sussex County Council has approved $69.2m (£57.06m) in capital funding that includes $22m (£18.16m) from Homes England as part of the Brookleigh development, for the new secondary school.
The school has been designed to be zero-carbon, generating its own renewable energy on site without using any fossil fuels. It will have approximately 1,000 solar photovoltaic panels which will generate nearly 296,000kWh of power annually.
It is being delivered through the multi-disciplinary consultancy partnership of the County Council with Faithful+Gould, Atkins and Cundalls working on the design.
The school will have a Special Support Centre which will provide education for children with special educational requirements and disabilities.
West Sussex County Council Learning and Skills cabinet member Nigel Jupp said: “Planning approval marks a major milestone in our ambition to create an environmentally-friendly and high-quality new secondary school in Mid Sussex.
“It is uniquely designed to achieve Passivhaus certification and lead the way in energy efficiency.
“In addition, Brookleigh families will be able to walk or cycle to their new place of education, again demonstrating the County Council’s commitment to significantly reducing carbon emissions as part of our Climate Change Strategy.”
The new school will be operated by the University of Brighton Academies Trust as part of an ‘all-through’ primary and secondary school named The Bedelands Academy.
It is planned to be built and ready for its first students’ intake of around 120 year-seven students in September 2025.
The school will eventually accommodate 900 pupils.
