Council agrees funding for Crowborough nursery

On Wednesday (July 15), Wealden District Council formally approved a bid seeking Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) monies for Acre Wood Academy — formerly known as Grove Park School.

The funding, which will go towards building new nursery accommodation at the school’s site in Church Road, had been considered by the council’s cabinet earlier this month.

As the item was not called for debate, the funding was agreed without a specific vote.

Council leader Rachel Millward welcomed She said: “We are delighted that today we are confirming … up to £1m of funding to build a new nursery at Acre Wood in Crowborough for SEND early years education.

“I know that project will transform the lives of those little ones and, of course, their families.”

The funding request is linked to a wider East Sussex County Council project to expand the school’s facilities.

This involves the ongoing construction of a school building, containing: seven classrooms; three specialist teaching spaces; a library; a kitchen facility; a therapy room; a double-height school hall; and staff accommodation.

Once built, the new building will allow the school to begin teaching its primary and secondary age students at a single location.

The cost of this overall scheme, which is already under construction, is currently expected to exceed £18.12m. This figure includes £1m for the previously unfunded nursery element of the scheme.

Funding for the project is mostly being drawn from a Department for Education grant known as the High Needs Provision Capital Allocation (HNPCA). Some additional funding is also coming from contributions secured through section 106 legal agreements — funding developers agree to provide to mitigate the impact of new housing.

These two funding sources add up to around £15.5m — leaving a funding gap of around £2.6m.

When discussed earlier this month, cabinet members had heard how the county council had already borrowed £1.6m to cover part of the funding gap, with this money being spent on the ongoing construction.

In a report to cabinet, officers had said the county council had asked Wealden to allocate £2.6m of CIL money towards the project. It had asked for £1.6m to repay its loan, with the additional £1m going towards then as-yet unfunded nursery accommodation element of the project.

But officers had advised against granting the full request, noting how “the purpose of CIL is to fill identified funding gaps for infrastructure provision.”

In the report, a council spokesman said: “In this instance phase one of the project not only does not have a funding gap but is well under construction due for completion in September 2026. ESCC have …agreed to fund phase one of the project by way of grant funding, S106 funding and a loan.

“There is therefore no funding gap for phase one and therefore the full £2.6m request is not justified.”