Expansion of Grade II listed school approved

The expansion means the overall pupil roll will gradually increase from 775 to 1,050

Plans to expand a Grade II listed school to allow it to offer 55 new places to pupils have been given the go ahead.

The approved plans for Archbishop Temple Church of England High School in Fulwood, Preston, will see it extend its dining room and add an outdoor terrace.

Preston City Council planners said the "public benefits" of the proposals outweighed the “less than substantial harm” caused.

The expansion was supported by the Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education, which runs the voluntary-aided school, while a consultation on the plans attracted 12 responses, eight of which were in favour.

The school, which was built in the mid-1960s, was first listed by Historic England in 2017 for both architectural and historical reasons.

The organisation said it was a "good example" of the work of Building Design Partnership (BDP), which was the "largest of the multi-disciplinary practices operating in the 1960s and 1970s, marrying sophisticated engineering with architectural flair".

The Preston-based BDP was also responsible for the city's renowned brutalist bus station, Blackburn shopping centre, the campuses of the Universities of Bradford and Surrey and the headquarters of Halifax Building Society.

The school's designers were also responsible for Preston's brutalist bus station

In January, Lancashire County Council’s cabinet approved a one-off expansion of the school at the start of the coming autumn term.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said this would see the intake of 155 pupils into year 7 grow to 210.

In April, the authority approved plans to make the increase permanent from September 2025.

It means the overall pupil roll will gradually increase from 775 to 1,050.

Of those who responded to the council's consultation on the plans, seven said it would provide additional places at what they described as a popular and oversubscribed school.

However, two respondents expressed concern about the potential impact on its performance.

The cost of the work, which will be partially funded by developers building homes nearby, was discussed in a private cabinet meeting in April, because of commercial confidentiality.

Further money will come from government funding designed to ensure local authorities can provide enough school places.