Maria Miller has warmly welcomed the significant investment that Hampshire County Council is making to provide hundreds of additional primary school places in the next two years.

Between now and 2017, around £28 million will be invested in six primary schools across Basingstoke, as well as the building of a brand new primary school at Rooksdown, which is due to open in September 2015. This will mean more than 500 new primary school places in Basingstoke, to meet the rising demand.

Maria was visiting the site of the new school at Rooksdown, along with Cllr Peter Edgar, Executive Member for Education at Hampshire County Council and Cllr Stephen Reid. Also visiting was John Martin, Head Teacher of Castle Hill Junior School, who will also lead the new Rooksdown School, as an extension of Castle Hill, Rebecca Willmouth, Deputy Head of Castle Hill and Simon Bound, Development Manager at Rooksdown Community Centre.

Maria said: “I was really pleased to be able to see the tremendous progress that has been made with the new school in Rooksdown, which will be an exciting and modern learning environment for local children.

“Hampshire County Council is making really significant investment to increase the capacity of Basingstoke schools. These are such an important part of the vital infrastructure needed to support housing development and growth, and it is great news that the County Council is supporting us in this way.”