First new secondary school in 10 years to be built in Sandwell

Around 120 Year 7 pupils will start at the Q3 Academy in Langley from next September. By 2023 the academy school will have a total of 1,500 pupils enrolled.

The school will be built off Moat Road on land which used to house the Oldbury College of Sport and where buildings were demolished earlier this month.

The scheme has been supported by bosses at Sandwell Council who said it was great news for the children of Sandwell. It will be the first new secondary school to open in 10 years in the entire borough.

It is being sponsored by Eric and Grace Payne, who were the sponsors of the Q3 Academy in nearby Great Barr.

The previous school on the site, Langley High School, closed in 2007 but the site continued to be used by the Oldbury College of Sport and Oldbury Academy until 2012, when the school moved all activity to the former Oldbury Technical School site on Pound Road and abandoned the site on Moat Road.

A dining hall and main hall will be at the centre of the new building, while the new school will also feature drama and music areas, an art and design centre and top-of-the-range sports facilities.

The proposals were rubber-stamped by a Sandwell Council planning committee on Wednesday.

But approval was only given after restrictions on non-pupil use of the school's sporting facilities had been removed.

Councillor Steve Trow said: "If the sporting facilities at the school can be made available for community use then I believe that is something worth doing.

"I find it extraordinary to say it is not safe for community use outside of school hours.

"These are important green spaces in a highly built up area. It would be extremely valuable for the pitches to be bought back into community use if at all possible.

"We want to encourage more people to be physically active."

In light of these concerns it was agreed to remove a condition restricting community use of the school's external pitches to 8pm Monday-Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.

Councillor Roger Horton raised the issue of public transport.

He said: "It is going to be such a large complex in Moat Road has any thought been given to how people will be getting there and how people will travel away from there?

"Is there a need for public transport there or not?"

Highways officers from the council said the onus would be on school bosses to get in touch with bus companies and establish bus routes.