LEADING figures have marked the first phase of building work on Bordon’s new Mill Chase Academy school with a formal turf-cutting ceremony.

Equipped with spades, Hampshire County Council leader Roy Perry, director of the Education and Skills Funding Agency Mike Green, chief executive of the University of Chichester Academy Trust Sue Samson, Mill Chase principal Paul Hemmings and Bordon county councillor Adam Carew officially kick started the project in Budds Lane, Bordon.

Also in attendance were Mill Chase Academy head boy Jordan Kelly and head girl Emily Morgan, as well as Whitehill Town Council leader Mark Davison and the Whitehill mayor Colin Leach.

Leading proceedings, Mr Perry said: “Hampshire County Council has been pleased to play a significant and important part in the regeneration of Whitehill and Bordon. All along we have recognised that a new school building, with all the potential that brings, would be pivotal to the quality and success of the whole development.

“We want this school to be a success, just as we are committed to helping Whitehill and Bordon to be a success. I wish all those who will ultimately work and study in this new school the very best for a bright future.”

On behalf of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Mr Green thanked all those responsible for getting the project off the ground, adding: “We are very pleased to be a part of this scheme, working in conjunction with Hampshire County Council and the University of Chichester Academy Trust.”

Mr Hemmings said: “It is so exciting to be on site and to see work is starting on our new school buildings.

“High quality outcomes are rapidly improving for the children of our town.

“Last year we were in the top 10 per cent of Hampshire secondary schools for students achieving the Government’s Basics measure.

“In two years and 18 months we will have a fantastic educational resource and impressive learning environment for the town’s students which will allow us to raise standards even further.”

Mr Carew told the Bordon Herald: “This is a very exciting day for pupils, parents and staff of Mill Chase Academy and for Whitehill and Bordon. We have long argued that a new secondary school is essential for the transformation of our town and today marks the very first step towards its physical construction.

“Although academies are not under local authority control, I am delighted Hampshire County Council has given its full backing to this vital project and put its money on the table along with the district council, Department for Education and other partners.

“The strong support and involvement also from the school, sponsor the University of Chichester, the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company (Prince Philip Barracks developer) and local councillors, at all three levels, will ensure our vision - of a state-of-the-art learning campus fit for the 21st century - becomes a reality. My thanks to Hampshire county architect Liam Presley and his team for working with me as county councillor, Mill Chase teachers and students to come up with such a superb single-storey design.

“I have worked with Liam to ensure that we strive for the best environmental credentials possible and officers at the district council have played a key role in this. I have also arranged for native trees to be planted around the perimeter in line with our Green Vision.”

Also present at the event was Ferris Cowper, chairman of the Whitehill and Bordon Strategy Board and East Hampshire District Council’s portfolio holder for Whitehill and Bordon.

“The new Mill Chase Academy will deliver a first-class education to generations of young residents in Whitehill and Bordon,” he said. “The regeneration of the town is all about providing a better quality of life to current and future residents, and a new school is an essential part of the plan. I am delighted to see construction has begun for this school which will make the town an even more attractive place to live and work.”

Organisations, including the county and district councils, developers, the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership and Homes England, have been working together to enhance the town and its infrastructure.

Relocating Mill Chase Academy to new, contemporary facilities, with the capacity to accommodate a growing school community, has been a central part of the Whitehill and Bordon regeneration plan. Sited in Budds Lane, to the north of what will be the new town centre, the new, 900-place secondary school is set to cost approximately £30million to build.

The county council is investing £10m towards this total cost. The balance of funding includes contributions from the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company, Homes England, the district council and the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

As well as a broad and diverse range of teaching and learning spaces, the new school will incorporate improved sports facilities, including a floodlit, all-weather pitch and six indoor badminton courts. Also, space will be left on site for possible future expansion. Completion is due in the summer of 2019 to allow the school to move, from Mill Chase Lane, to its new home in time for the start of the autumn term.

There has long been speculation that the school would change its name when this happens, although formal proposals to do so are yet to surface.