This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
The Catalyst Lend Lease consortium has been selected as preferred partner for a £250 million Building Schools for the Future project for Lancashire County Council.
The £250m Building Schools for the Future projects will be the largest single investment ever to be made in Burnley and Pendle’s education system.
The first phase of the partnership will see the provision of Shuttleworth Community College, Burnley Schools’ Sixth Form, new primary, nursery and primary special school provision on the Barden Lane Campus and Pendle Vale Community College and Pendle Community High School
In the first phase of the programme, Catalyst Lend Lease and its consortium partners which includes Bovis Lend Lease, Capita Symonds Group, Redstone Communications, Halifax Bank of Scotland and Vita Lend Lease will design, build and maintain nine schools in the Burnley and Pendle area of the county for 25 years.
There is scope in the agreement to build up to 40 more schools in the area over future waves.
Cabinet Member for Education and County Councillor Alan Whittaker said the announcement is another step along the road to transforming education in Burnley and Pendle and a strong reflection of our commitment to these areas. We are one step closer to seeing these pioneering schools taking shape.
"Catalyst have put together a bespoke bid for Burnley and Pendle – we are also pleased that they have worked with the County Council to identify training and employment opportunities for local people and firms.
"There will be a big emphasis on getting parents and pupils involved in developing the plans for the new facilities, making them a central part of local communities,” he added.
"Catalyst is one of Britain’s foremost providers of PFI/partnering services, particularly in health and education, and we look forward to working with Lancashire County Council and all their stakeholders. Our consortium comprises Capita Symonds Group, providing specialist educational design services, Redstone Communications, providing integrated IT systems and financiers Halifax Bank of Scotland,” Catalyst Lend Lease’s chief executive Jason Millett said.
Catalyst Lend Lease has already built and now run 14 PFI-funded schools in the UK and has a strong presence in north west England.
“The next stage of this exciting programme is to establish a Local Education Partnership (LEP) between Catalyst, the Council and ourselves later this year, which will take us one more step towards the widescale reorganisation of schools in East Lancashire,” Partnerships for Schools’ chief executive Richard Bowker said.
"Four of the BSF Pathfinder and Wave 1 local authorities have now announced their preferred bidder. This is clear evidence that the Building Schools for the Future programme is now gathering unstoppable momentum in securing its objective of transforming the secondary school learning environment in England,” he added.
It is proposed that work on the new facilities will begin in autumn this year with the schools opening their doors in September 2008. Building on the next phase of schools will start in autumn 2007 and the final phase in 2008.
By Adam Parsons
