The proposed site for the new Ongar Academy, the first secondary school in the town for 25 years, has been officially confirmed.

Negotiations focussing on land adjacent to the Ongar Leisure Centre in Fyfield Road are nearing conclusion, according to those behind the school, which is due to open in September.

Despite a lack of planning permission, school officials are said to be confident a final design will be unveiled in the coming weeks, and the site will be made available by Epping Forest District Council soon.

The land, which is part of the former Ongar Comprehensive School campus, is currently subject to a covenant restricting the site to leisure usage only, but school officials have said Essex County Council has indicated support for allowing educational use of the site.

It is anticipated that the academy will be housed in temporary facilities on the site during the construction of the new multi-million pound school buildings.

The school has also announced that it plans to use facilities at Ongar Leisure Centre.

The district council's leisure strategy refers to a possible sharing of the centre's running costs with a new school. 

Headteacher David Grant said: “Now we are able to confirm that our preferred site looks set to become a reality, I have every confidence we will receive more than enough applications over the next few weeks to fill the final remaining places, and I would urge parents to get their applications in while they still can.”