The education chief at County Hall has said a new secondary school near the town centre would help the county council alleviate the pressure to provide new places.
Councillor Catherine Boardman (Con, Brixworth), cabinet member for children and education, said the county council was “looking forward” to working with the David Ross Education Trust to help develop the Barrack Road proposal ahead of the bid being submitted in autumn.
She said: “The David Ross Education Trust has already demonstrated its commitment to raising education standards in Northampton and to playing a full role in the local communities where its schools are based.
“While our immediate focus has been on securing enough school places to meet demand at primary level, our longer-term strategy identifies the need for new secondary school places as that pressure moves through the primary stage.
“A successful bid for a new secondary school would not only alleviate that pressure, it would add to the range of choices available to Northampton parents.”
Northampton Borough and Northamptonshire County Councillor, Winston Strachan (Lab, Castle), said he thought a new school on the site could give the area a “lift”.
He said; “When Northampton College announced plans a few years ago to move into the town centre, people said it was not a good idea, but that has worked out really well.
“As long as there are proper arrangements made for crossing the Barrack Road, I think a school would brighten up the area and bring some new employment.
“I think it would give that area of town a lift. At the moment the site looks like a prison with a big security fence around it and redevelopment would completely change the landscape.”
The former Royal Mail sorting office has been a subject discussed at many meetings of the Semilong Community Forum.
Former borough councillor for Castle, Tony Clarke, said, after a security fence was put round the site in March 2009, that residents would only be satisfied once the site had been redeveloped.