West Kirby Grammar School’s proposal for a new sixth form block and community sports hall is being recommended for approval by planning officials.
The school wants to construct a new four court sports hall by taking out two tennis courts on the Meols Drive side of the site, and converting an existing gym into a dedicated sixth form centre. It is planned that the sports hall will be made available for community use of an evening.
It says the scheme will address the lack of “sporting spaces, dining areas, changing rooms, study spaces, and social spaces, particularly for Sixth Form students” and is “crucial for making the school vital, viable, and sustainable for the future”.
A total of 14 objections have been received by the council in relation to concerns around a lack of consultation with local people, the scale of the development and the impact on the local road network, whilst there have been 28 submissions in favour of the project.
Plans for an overspill car park in addition to 10 new permanent car parking spaces have been removed on the recommendation of planning officials, to avoid noise and disturbance for neighbouring properties.
Planners believe there will only be “a small increase in external traffic requiring parking”.
Officials say the new sports hall “would not appear out of place, remaining respective to both the height and two-storey scale of the existing school and would not represent overdevelopment of the site”, and “would cause a degree of less than substantial harm to the character and appearance of the conservation area”.
They also do not believe it will be overbearing for neighbouring properties, with plans for a three metre high ‘instant green screen’ and additional planting to shield it from the nearest house.
The school has submitted a ‘travel plan framework’ as part of the application, which it says will be progressed after the redevelopment is completed, to try and reduce the number of journeys to and from school by car. It says this offers “for the first time, the opportunity to address local highway pressures experienced by the wider neighbourhood with a view to providing long-term betterment for the benefit of the local community”.
The proposals include reviewing and increasing cycle storage if needed, the introduction of a formal car share arrangement for staff, consideration given to new safe crossing points, and encouraging staff and pupils to walk or cycle to and from school once a week. However it concedes “it will take time for the effects of the possible initiatives to occur”.
Separate to the application, a consultation has recently ended on the proposed introduction of a traffic regulation order which would extend ‘no waiting’ parking restrictions on Graham Road from 8am – 5pm on weekdays to deal with issues faced by local residents in relation to coaches and cars. It follows complaints from some residents who say they face a battle to leave their homes at the start and end of the school day, with some resorting to parking on the pavement outside their drives to make sure they are not blocked in.
The planning application for the new sports hall and sixth form block will be considered by councillors at a meeting on Thursday 7 November.