Chase Farm estate families to have 'enhanced' school choice after catchment change controversy
Nottinghamshire County Council's education chief insists changes to catchment areas for families on a new housing estate will "enhance" their choice of school. The Conservative-led authority recently removed those on the Chase Farm development in Gedling from the catchment area of Lambley Primary School.
The change would have come into effect for the next academic year, beginning in September 2025. A decision by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) following complaints meant the county council had to reverse that decision by adding Lambley back into the Chase Farm catchment.
Yet Councillor Sam Smith, the cabinet member for education and SEND at the council, says other catchment area changes remain and that Chase Farm families will now have four primaries to choose from. Councillor Smith insisted he welcomed the decision of the OSA, which raised concerns about "unfairness" for Chase Farm parents who already had a child at Lambley and who could have been forced to send other children elsewhere.
The initial removal of Lambley Primary School was done alongside the addition of the Stanhope Primary and Nursery School, Phoenix Infant and Nursery School and Priory Junior School to Chase Farm's catchment. All three of these schools are closer to Chase Farm than Lambley and All Hallows C of E Primary School, the two sites that parents on the development previously had to choose from.
The county council changes that remain in place, coupled with the OSA's decision, means the choice has now increased from two schools to four. Councillor Smith said: "Since I took that decision [to add three schools], which is a decision on the back of a public consultation, the school's adjudicator has actually enhanced it.
"They've enhanced what we have implemented by adding Lambley school back in. I'm pleased with it, as I'm sure the families are.
"Families there on the estate now have a choice of four good local schools and I think that's to be welcomed. Particularly with Stanhope, Priory and Phoenix, they're well within walking distance of the estate.
"You just cross Arnold Lane, there's a pedestrian crossing that's been installed over the past few years, so they're all accessible on foot for families. With the added bonus of Lambley now back in, it gives families a good local choice."
The initial changes were first announced in February and all will come into effect next September. The initial agreement for the Chase Farm development, at the former Gedling Colliery site, included the building of a new primary school.
It was then announced in 2023 that money would instead be spent on expanding existing secondary schools in a move which left parents "really disappointed". The original primary school plan would have seen a new facility offering 210 school places.
Lambley Primary School itself has a capacity of 210 and there are currently 173 children on the roll, split into seven classes. Councillor Smith said he believes the four primary schools will be able to accommodate all the children at Chase Farm, a development eventually set to comprise 1,050 homes when it is completed in 2026.
Councillor Smith added: "I'm massively confident that there's a sufficiency of school places there now, particularly with the choice of four schools. We're seeing a decline in birth rates, which impacts primary schools first, and these four schools that we're talking about are primary schools.
"Not only is there a decline in birth rate locally, which will free up extra spaces, there's also the option now for these families to pick from four rather than just two." Primary school admissions for the September 2025 school year are set to open on November 11.