Regeneration plans underway as city centre free school approved

PLANS for one of the largest free schools in the country have been approved, in a deal which is hoped will bring an influx of investment in to the south of Leeds city centre.

Leeds Sustainable Development Group (LSDG) in partnership with the GORSE Academies Trust, aims to create an area with the potential to become a sustainable community.

The organisations believe the new school, the Ruth Gorse Academy, will be a significant catalyst for this transformation of the area, as part of a mix of family housing, green park-land, new employment and leisure facilities.

Co-ordinator of the LSDG, David Lumb, said: “Significant investment in social infrastructure such as schools, health centres and community facilities is vital to the creation of a sustainable urban community in this area.”

He said it provides “long-term” business opportunities and he believes there are a lot of people who want to invest in the area.

“By providing a critically important part of this infrastructure, the proposed Ruth Gorse Academy will encourage city dwellers in their twenties and thirties to remain within the urban core, and entice new long-term residents with families to move to this highly accessible area,” Mr Lumb said.

“We have created a unique opportunity with the free school movement to make a significant difference to the next generation of children in Leeds. We would urge all those interested in the Ruth Gorse Academy, including parents, businesses and community members alike to register their support.”

The groups said that providing a new, centrally located, outstanding school, will “kick-start” development enticing families to move back to the area.

The Ruth Gorse Academy is set to deliver educational ‘excellence’ to secondary
students, up to the age of 19. The secondary school, which will form the first phase of development, will cater for around 1,500 students and have a post-16 Centre of Excellence in mathematics and applied mathematics.This is the first phase of this development and an adjoining primary facility is already in the planning stage.

The south bank has development potential with around 210 acres of vacant or under-utilised sites and premises which could accommodate approximately 8-10,000 new residential units on brown-field land.

A number of developments are already taking place to stimulate the revitalisation of this area, including the Leeds City College at the Print Works, new housing in Hunslet, the proposal for an international data-handling centre on the former Yorkshire Chemical site, the re-launch of New Dock and the NGT trolleybus.

Executive principal of the GORSE Academies Trust, John Townsley,  said the new academy will provide greater access to opportunity in an area in need of regeneration.

He said: “Supporting the growth of skills for residents is the key to the long-term success of the Leeds economy and to tackling the barriers to opportunity associated with deprivation.”

“We see this as one of the most important actions required to revitalise the south of our city centre with new family housing that will deliver a significant step change in the level of social mobility in a generation.”

The school is due to open in September 2014.