Green light for special educational needs school

The development features a mix of both single and two storey buildings

Plans for a new special educational needs (SEN) school with capacity for 200 pupils have been approved despite concerns over road safety and flooding.

Planning officer at Gloucestershire County Council said the need for the school in Abbeydale, Gloucester, outweighed any perceived impact of it.

Concerns raised by residents at Thursday's planning committee meeting included that the school would result in more than 400 vehicle movements during the day.

Councillor Andrew Gravells who represents the Abbey division, said he backed the plans after careful consideration, adding: "Gloucestershire is crying out for more schools which will cater for children with special needs.”

Concerns had been raised over the impact added traffic would have on the local area

Vehicle and pedestrian access to the school will be via a nine metre gap between residential houses.

Most pupils are expected to be delivered by taxi and mini bus.

The site will include provision for three minibus parking spaces, five disabled persons parking bays, 75 parking spaces and 32 spaces for cycles.

An alternative entrance is planned to lead on to Ash Path.

The council received 14 objections to the proposed development on Wheatbridge East, including from the parish council which raised highways concerns. Fifteen people wrote in support of the scheme.

Trevina Beer, who spoke on behalf of 100 Abbeydale residents, said the area was "already affected by traffic issues from Heron's School, with another five schools within a mile."

She said this would lead to "severe congestion with vehicles queuing to join the Wheatway, which is already a busy road".

Conservative councillor Pam Tracey agreed it was a busy road and was worried about the open space being lost.

“People will park outside the school, it’s only natural. The houses around there are so tightly packed. I feel sorry for them all,” she said.

'Good step for county'

Mr Gravells, a Conservative councillor, said he had sleepless nights over the plans as wanted to do the right thing.

He said the site had been earmarked for a school for "much longer" than the more than 25 years he had lived in the area and been its county councillor.

He added it "was not not a case of a school at any cost" but had welcomed the idea of a smaller SEN school compared to a previous plan.

Mike Peters is senior education leader with Reach South Academy Trust, which will run the school once completed.

“With a rapidly growing number of children with SEN in Gloucestershire, this provision is absolutely essential" he told the meeting.

He said the trust's schools worked closely with local communities and had a strong track record in school improvement.

Gareth Vine, SEN development manager at the county council, said 400 more SEN school places were needed by the end of the decade and there was only "limited scope to try and provide additional capacity."

Councillor Bernie Fisher conceded the plans were "not perfect" but they were a "really good step for Gloucestershire."

The committee backed the new school by nine votes, with two abstentions.