DELAYS to the building of Silsden’s much-needed new primary school have been slammed by councillors.

Local politicians are dismayed that the long-awaited new campus is unlikely to open until at least Easter or summer 2021.

The delays starting work has been blamed on the need to choose a suitable contractor.

Town and district councillor Adrian Naylor, who this week raised the issue , said he was very frustrated that it had taken several years to find a suitable site for the school, gain planning permission, assign funding and seek a contractor.

He said: “Given the need for new school, I’m concerned it has taken so long to get to the point of appointing a developer. Until they know who it is, nobody can give definitive timescales.

“I appreciate they are spending public money and formal processes have to be gone through, but the bureaucratic process has dragged on.

“It’s been a lot longer than expected. It will probably be quicker to build the thing then it has taken for people to sign off on it.”

“They will be looking at a completion date sometime around Easter 2021 or September that year, unless they can fast-track.

“This is another example of a much-needed piece of infrastructure in the community, in response to the massive housing that is springing up everywhere, just not happening quickly enough.

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Cllr Rebecca Whitaker, who also sits on Bradford and Silsden councils, said it was highly unlikely the school would open by the originally-projected date of September 2020.

She said: “It’s very frustrating for anyone involved not knowing when the building work will start. It must be causing the staff and pupils uncertainty, not knowing what to plan for.

“I am still concerned about highway safety, and potential new housing around the school site.”

Silsden town councillor David Loud said it would have been made more sense for the required substantial ground works to have taken place over the summer.

He said: “My continuing concern is the proposed access and exit routes for the school. I continue to pursue planning and highways offices to provide further information on vehicle waiting times at key junctions.

A Bradford Council spokesman said tenders had been received for the Silsden school building project.

He said: “We now need to enter a process of consultation and clarification with bidders before the contract award can take place. This needs to be undertaken in line with procurement rules and the building work will not be able to start until this is complete.

“Unfortunately this means there will be a slight delay to the project. We hope to complete the process with bidders by the end of July so that we can award the contract and start the building work as soon as we can.

“We know everyone who is involved with the school will find this frustrating, but the project will be on site as soon as possible.”

Plans for the giant new 640-place school, to replace two existing primary schools, were approved last May.

The new school would initially be three-form entry, including a nursery, with a “future-proof” design with enough room for a fourth form.