Plans to build a new Doherty Memorial High School on land off Newtown Road in Worcester have faced an unexpected obstacle. A controversial recent council meeting has since left the project in limbo. That’s because the recently departed Conservative administration had first planned the proposed project. Its estimated cost has soared to £63 million. The local opposition political party Reform cautioned about the project’s viability. They usually cite the overwhelming financial constraints that the local authority is currently navigating.
Reform’s Rob Wharton has been quite outspoken about the difficulties in funding that new school. He stated, “There’s nobody on the Reform party who wouldn’t like to build a shiny new school, we would – but fundamentally we don’t have the cash.” Rather than going the route of the new school, Reform wants to increase capacity at a number of existing high schools in Malvern and Pershore. This strategy aims to create more spaces for children from Worcester, helping to lessen the strain on local educational institutions.
At a full council meeting, councillors from the Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Conservative Party united. Backers of the school fought together in vociferous opposition to the mayor’s proposal to kill the project. The uncertainty surrounding the project’s status deepened after council members voted down Reform’s efforts to cancel £33 million of borrowing and formally scrap the plan by reaching out to the Department for Education.
This has been warmly received by Reform’s cabinet member for education, Stephen Foster. He remarked, “Cancelling the school would contribute to our savings plan, in order to maintain the future viability of this council.” This sentiment is a symptom of the larger perceived struggle between fiscal responsibility and the need for educational resources in Worcester.
Though a majority of council members support scrapping the project, others are still wary of what it could portend. Josh Robinson, a Liberal Democrat councillor, expressed his concerns over infrastructure and housing growth. He noted, “All I hear from Reform is ‘build the infrastructure first’ then everything else, like the housing, later.” This view highlights the importance of strong upfront planning to meet educational needs.
Many other councillors echoed these fears. Perhaps most importantly, they fear that closing the school would unfairly disadvantage Worcester children, sending them long distances and across town to receive an education. This debate isn’t just about the money. It dares us to rethink what greater accessibility and equity in education must mean for families across the district.
The council will review the issue again at a full city council meeting early next year. This indicates that the fight over the school’s future is still very much alive. Rob Wharton reaffirmed his stance, stating, “We don’t have the money to actually build it, that’s the problem.”
