The Snowfields Academy and Bearsted Primary Academy will be managed by Leigh Academies Trust (LAT), which operates a selection of primary, secondary and special schools across Kent, Medway and South East London.
The two schools are linked through shared facilities, but both have their own separate identity. Bearsted Primary Academy will provide a nursery and a two form entry primary school.
The adjacent Snowfields Academy will be a brand new purpose-built special school designed to accommodate 140 students between the ages of 11 and 18 with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
On behalf of the Department for Education’s selected contractors, Bowmer + Kirkland, DHA provided planning and transport advice.
Specific attention was given to the issue of transport and it was agreed that access to the schools will be via Kent Medical Campus rather than Bearsted Road, in order to allay public concern over pupil safety and reduce congestion.
Kent Medical Campus has been masterplanned to provide accommodation for up to 4,000 new jobs along with associated infrastructure, making it Maidstone’s largest employment site as well, as being a Government designated Enterprise Zone.