MILLWOOD Special School could be relocated in Radcliffe as part of a major investment in primary schools.

Bury Council has proposed building a new £10 million school on Radcliffe Riverside High School’s site in Abden Street.

Millwood is currently based in Fletcher Fold Road, Bury, but the land is not big enough to accommodate a rebuild.

It is proposed that a new school building could instead be constructed on a quarter of the land which is currently home to Radcliffe Riverside.

The school would open in 2011, by which time all Radcliffe Riverside pupils are expected to be based solely on the Spring Lane campus.

The rest of the land would be sold for residential development, along with Millwood’s current site.

Headteacher Helen Chadwick said: “I think that the building of a new school is an excellent development for Bury’s most vulnerable children and it will have a very positive impact on the lives of all our Millwood families. We have looked at a number of sites in Bury and we think Radcliffe will be a great place to move to.

“If we get planning permission, it will be full steam ahead. We are looking forward to being a part of the Radcliffe community.”

Radcliffe Riverside was selected for Millwood after studies of eight sites across the borough, including Castlebrook High School in Unsworth and Mersey Drive Primary School in Whitefield.

The Abden Street site was deemed to be the most suitable, despite being earmarked as residential land under the Reinventing Radcliffe plans.

A council report, which was due to be discussed by the council’s executive last night, said: “We have seen difficulties in bringing forward the plans for the development of the SUN Quarter and also the early phases of residential development on the East Lancashire Paper Mill site.

“This suggests, that in the short to mid term at least, there may by insufficient demand to justify new housing at the levels previously anticipated and, as such, any measure to reduce development capacity, such as utilising part of the Radcliffe site for a new school, may be prudent.”

The new school would form part of the council’s Primary Strategy for Change, which will see £70 million spent on rebuilding, modernising or refurbishing 32 schools in the next 13 years.

The relocation of Millwood is the first priority, with Radcliffe Hall, East Ward, and St Joseph and St Bede’s primary schools also set to be rebuilt.