210 extra places in Smethwick school expansion plan
More than 200 school places are set to be created as part of a major expansion at a Smethwick primary school.
Victoria Park Primary School wants to build seven new classrooms to become a three-form entry.
Two new teaching blocks would be added to the school on Ballot Street, under plans which have been lodged with Sandwell Council.
The borough has been under increasing pressure to provide more school places in recent years due to a baby boom and rising immigration.
A total of 210 new places would be made available while the car park would also be extended to provide room for 79 new spaces.
The bold move would mean the school would have three classes per year group. It currently has around 450 pupils.
Smethwick councillor Richard Marshall declared the boost in school places is crucial for the town. He said: "Smethwick has been identified as the area in the Midlands most in need of school places.
"We are right on the border with Birmingham and there are a lot of people who move wanting the benefits of the big city but not wanting to pay big city prices. We also get a lot of immigration so are crying out for these new places.
"The school is not in the best position for expansion but at least we are going to get something."
A planning report to committee members said: "The applicant is applying for single and two-storey extensions to the main school building which would create seven new classrooms and provide school places for 210 children.
"The proposal also includes an extension to an existing car park to create 79 car parking spaces and related improvements."
The Members of the council's planning committee is set to visit the site before deciding whether the expansion should go ahead. The town also comes under pressure from outside Sandwell as well as in the borough.
The Express & Star revealed last week how one in five parents applying for school places in Sandwell were from outside the area borough.
The proposed expansion of Victoria Park Primary comes after the opening of the new Q3 Academy, Great Barr, in September.
The academy, in Langley, Oldbury, was the first new school to be built in Sandwell in a decade and will eventually take in more than 1,500 pupils.
