PLANS for a proposed new secondary school are to go on display for the first time.

The Northern Arc secondary school project in Burgess Hill forms part of West Sussex County Council’s wider development of 3,500 new homes, led by Homes England.

An information event is due to be held at The Cherry Tree Centre on Wednesday, July 20.

At the event, residents will be talked through the plans by the council’s project team, see the plans on display and ask questions.

The secondary school is part of a new "all-through" primary and secondary school for Northern Arc, which will be run by the University of Brighton Academy Trust.

The secondary school would include all the facilities recommended by the Department for Education for a school of this size, including a dedicated special support centre, with strong sustainability credentials, in line with the West Sussex County Council climate change strategy.

As a demonstration of this council’s climate change pledge, the building aims to achieve Passivhaus certification, reflecting ultra-low carbon emissions in operation, with an acute focus on energy efficiency, insulation, on-site energy generation and no use of fossil fuels in the running of the building.

Further to this, the design minimises, as far as practicable, embodied carbon.

West Sussex County Council is preparing to submit a reserved matters planning application in August.

Nigel Jupp, West Sussex County Council cabinet member for learning and skills, previously said: “We have a relentless drive to continue raising education standards while supporting the urban and rural diversity of our beautiful county to provide high-quality schools like this for every child, as set out in our School Effectiveness Strategy.

“The University of Brighton Academies Trust is highly experienced and already runs 15 schools across West and East Sussex, all of which are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, so this proposed new school will be in extremely good hands.”

The Burgess Hill Northern Arc development, at a site called Freeks Farm, will have 3,500 homes, businesses, neighbourhood centres, an all-through primary and secondary school on two sites and a further separate primary school.

It is being developed in a partnership between Homes England, West Sussex County Council and Mid Sussex District Council.