New plans have been submitted for a secondary school in Colchester which would host 900 students, after years of several delays to its opening.

Bowmer and Kirkland have been commissioned by the Department for Education to develop Trinity School, which is now targeting a September 2023 opening, according to a planning application registered by Colchester Borough Council on December 30.

According to the school’s website, it was originally scheduled to open in 2021. This was then pushed back further to January 2023.

But Colchester MP Will Quince confirmed in a statement in July last year this too would have to be pushed back after construction firm Laing O’Rourke pulled out of the project.

According to a design and access statement, the works would include a multi-use games area, car parking, landscaping and an external play area with access from Wildeve Avenue.

Additionally, a teaching block containing general and specialist facilities, a sports block, bin storage, boundary fencing and an external dining area would be constructed.

A section reads: “The site for the proposed Trinity School is part of the new Colchester’s North Growth Area Urban Expansion, which comprises of the Chesterwell residential development.

“The proposal for Trinity School will provide much needed, state of the art facilities for students aged 11-16 years, and will provide a total of 900 places for years 7-11.”

Trinity’s first intake of students are currently attending The Gilberd School while they wait for the construction of the new campus, according to the statement.

The school has already been granted outline permission as part of a wider application by Mersea Homes.

These plans also include the development of 2,400 new homes, transport infrastructure and buildings for sport, leisure and business, according to the statement.

If approved, Trinity will be the only school within the master plan.

It will be a free school, meaning it is government funded but not run by the local authority, and will be managed by the Alpha Trust.

The Alpha Trust is a multi-academy trust in the Colchester area, currently running Colchester County High School for Girls, The Gilberd School, Manningtree High School and Home Farm Primary School.

The proposed site is in the Chesterwell area, two miles north of Colchester town centre and is currently used for agriculture.