AN ambitious multi-million-pound development to provide a new primary school, library, housing, medical centre and other improvements in a town has fallen a year behind schedule.

AN ambitious multi-million-pound

development to provide a new primary school, library, housing, medical centre and other improvements in a town has fallen a year behind schedule.

Suffolk County Council hoped a new school, to be built in Pytches Road in Woodbridge to replace New Street Primary School, could open next September.

But it takes a year to build a school, the planning applications have not been submitted and the council has admitted the school will now have to be built later than expected.

It is a significant development both for Woodbridge and Melton and the developers said there had been a great deal of consultation leading to a refinement of the original plans.

The aim is to build a 210-place primary school with nursery on county-council owned land in Pytches Road, on the border of Woodbridge and Melton.

New Street Primary School will be turned into a public library, almost 50 per cent bigger than the present library, with possibly studio apartments above. Housing will be built around the school playground.

G&E Woodbridge Consortium Ltd is the development company working with the county council on the plans.

A company spokesman said: "The current exercise is being undertaken in regular consultation with the school as well as the county council education department and responding to the views of parents as well as those of local residents."