ALMOST 200 children in and around Tavistock could be without a primary school place in the next five years because financial contributions from developers to build a new school have fallen short.

The new school, which is required to be built by 2026 to accommodate children from 1,200 new homes going up in the town, is looking at a funding gap of £1-million or more, according to town councillor Graham Parker.

The figures were highlighted to West Devon Borough Councillors this week by the town representative who said there was a serious crisis facing primary education in Tavistock as the sums just did not add up.

His concerns were raised as borough councillors discussed a review into the controversial planning approval for 250 homes at Plymouth Road, a decision made by officers under delegated powers and not councillors earlier this year which resulted in a public outcry. (see page 35)

‘There is a real danger that Tavistock will be short of a primary school in the next two or three years,’ said Cllr Parker. ‘Devon County Council has made it clear that the funding for a new school has to come from developers’ contributions within section 106 agreements because it has no money to build it but there is not enough in the pot. There is a huge gap.’

Mr Parker has laid the blame at the doorstep of the county council who he said had given the first phase of homes at Callington Road and Plymouth Road ‘a free pass’ but had not increased the amount of financial contribution on the later homes.

The councillor said if all of the 250 houses proposed at Plymouth Road were to contribute at the county council’s stated rate then the contribution would be more than £1.2 million. This, however, had been reduced to £357,336.

He said the four town primary schools have indicated that they would not be able to provide the 253 places needed in 2023, taking into account four new housing developments including 110 homes at Butcher Park Hill and 148 at New Launceston Road.

‘Informal discussion with local primary schools indicate that in reality, there are likely to be only 113 places rather than 253 available in 2023,’ he said. ‘This would represent an existing shortfall of 137.

‘Adding the 63 pupils generated by the Plymouth Road site, Tavistock could be as many as 200 pupil places short — as the Joint Local Plan correctly identifies. This doubly reinforces that there is no case whatsoever for exempting any of the Plymouth Road houses from making a primary school contribution.’

He said even if the Plymouth Road development was obliged to make a full up-to-date contribution and all the 750 homes were built at Callington Road, that would still leave a £1-million shortfall in funding for the school, estimated to cost £4.5-million.

Mr Parker also criticised West Devon Borough Council who he said had been ‘unwilling’ to challenge Devon County Council’s rationale over the past 20 months.

‘Whichever scenario occurs there will to be insufficient funds to build the school — by a very long way,’ he said. ‘There are no more large sites in Tavistock to provide developer contributions. The county council is letting Tavistock down very badly. We need to know how this new school will be funded.’

A spokesman for Devon County Council said: ‘We are continually reviewing pupil numbers across Devon to ensure there are sufficient places in our schools. We have to abide by statutory “tests for reasonableness” for contributions from housing developers and we always try to ensure we receive as much as possible for new school places.’