PLANS for primary school provision at a 6,000-home garden village development have taken a step forward.

Hampshire County Council has announced that it will allocate £8million to build a new primary school at the proposed Welborne garden village in Fareham.

The proposed school would be known as Welborne Primary School and would accommodate several hundred pupils from the new town, which will eventually have a population of more than 20,000 people.

Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, welcomed the progress.

He said: “It’s an important step in the future education provision for Welborne that the county council has added the school to its capital programme.”

Councillor Keith Mans, executive member for children’s services at Hampshire County Council, said: “We have been experiencing pressure on primary school places for some time now.

“I’m pleased to say we’re still ahead of the game, meeting the increasing demand through careful planning and budgeting.

“We are determined that families in Hampshire have access to a good local school that offers a rich and varied learning experience.

“We have always planned well ahead to make sure this is possible.”

Liberal Democrat opposition councillor Shaun Cunningham, said: “It’s good news about the school.

“It’s the first step of the ladder to bringing Welborne forward.

“However, it’s only part of the infrastructure that is needed for the development.

“We need to move forward with plans to upgrade junction 10 on the M27.”

The new school is expected to potentially open in September 2021.

It will also be partly funded by contributions of the master developer of Welborne, Buckland Development.

Alongside this, the county council announced that it will spend £400,000 enlarging Northern Junior School in Portchester to offer 60 places for Year 3s, enabling the school to cater for a total of 240 pupils.