MAJOR plans to build a new secondary school in Perranporth, that would help relieve pressure on places in Newquay and Truro, have been thrown into doubt.
Perranporth Secondary School, which is earmarked to be built on land south of Bolingey Road, is in jeopardy after being included in a government spending review.
Dr Jennifer Blunden, the chief executive of the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust, said the decision to review the investment will jeopardise the new school's scheduled opening date in September 2026.
The new school, which would accommodate 1,050 pupils, is due to take in children from Perranporth and surrounding areas including St Agnes, Perranporth, Goonhavern, Cubert and the new Langarth Garden Village on the outskirts of Truro.
Perranporth Secondary School is among 44 mainstream schools that are under review.
A spokesperson for the trust said: “We have been advised that funding for Perranporth Academy is part of the Department for Education review of free school funded projects. We will continue to provide updates for the community when available.”
Dr Jennifer Blunden said: "This uncertainty will jeopardise our new school's opening date in September 2026 at a time when Cornwall Council has already embarked on ambitious house building programmes in the area.
"If the review decides not to invest in Cornwall, through the delivery of Perranporth Academy, the new government will signal that it is ignoring the needs of Cornwall's rural communities who have been poorly served in the past by a lack of infrastructure investment."
Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education, said: "We will look at whether they will meet a need for places in their local area and offer value for taxpayers’ money.
"Under the last administration, substantial funds were allocated to the free schools programme, often resulting in surpluses in school capacity.
"The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that of the 113,500 new places in mainstream free schools due by 2021, an estimated 57,500 amounted to spare capacity in the new schools’ local area.
"Not only is this poor value for money, the oversupply of places can be detrimental to the other, more established schools in that area."