WORK to deliver Taunton’s newest primary school is officially under way.

The Orchard Grove Primary School will serve the development of the same name on the western edge of Taunton, where Taylor Wimpey and the Vistry Group are in the process of delivering up to 2,000 homes by 2028.

Somerset County Council approved plans for the £7.3m new school in December 2022, with the intention that it would begin opening its doors to new pupils from September 2023.

Somerset Council (which replaced the county council in April) has now confirmed work has begun on the site alongside the existing housebuilding.

This comes after the council’s planning committee west (which makes decisions on major planning applications in the former Somerset West and Taunton are) unanimously backed plans for a new substation which will provide energy for the school.

The committee backed the proposals without any debate at its first official meeting, which took place in Taunton on Wednesday afternoon (May 17).

The council subsequently confirmed that “initial site set up and ground-works had commenced” near the spine road which will link the school to the A38 Wellington Road (and eventually to Honiton Road in Trull).

The school, which will become part of the Castle Partnership Trust, will school, which will become part of the Castle Partnership Trust, will initially have space for 420 pupils (plus 58 nursery places), but can be further extended as needed for provide space for a further 210 children.

There will be three sports pitches and a range of play equipment installed at the back of the school, with 33 car parking spaces at the front, including four accessible spaces and a number of electric vehicle charging points.

Concerns were raised when the school was approved that the spine road would not be completed in time for the school to open, with pupils having to be shuttled to a “host school” in Wellington run by the same multi-academy trust.

But the developers reassured residents that the school would be open on time following a decision by Somerset West and Taunton Council’s planning committee in January regarding the road layout near the proposed new pumping station on Lipe Hill Lane.

Speaking at the time, a spokesman the Orchard Grove consortium said: “This latest planning permission not only means that the road network will be there to support the school as it is constructed, but it will enable pupils to attend as soon as the school opens.

“A huge amount of work has already taken place at Orchard Grove to put in a road infrastructure from day one to support new homes and amenities within the new community.

“The main ‘spine road’ through the development has been delivered on schedule from the new A38 junction as far as the school site – and we look forward to proceeding with the next stage of work.”