Hugglescote: Plans for primary school expansion to be discussed

The new teaching space would have three classrooms in it

A Leicestershire primary school is set to be expanded despite some concerns.

Hugglescote Community Primary School is planning a new single-storey building to help meet growing pupil numbers, in part due to new housing developments in the area.

The school has space for 525 pupils, but Leicestershire County Council - as the local education authority - said it needed to increase capacity to 630.

Some residents are concerned the build will increase traffic in the area.

The building would have three classrooms in it, with four new parking spaces also proposed.

Some of the concerns, particularly around the impact on the surrounding roads, have come from Hugglescote & Donington le Heath Parish Council.

It said parking currently occurred all along the highway, causing obstructions and hazards to other vehicles and pedestrians, and added it was concerned about increased traffic locally.

The scheme is set to be debated at a meeting of the county council's development control and regulatory board, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

'Sufficient capacity'

The county council's planning department has advised councillors to approve the scheme.

Officers in the council's highways team ruled the impact on the road network would "not be unacceptable" or "severe".

The department expected there would be an additional 78 journeys per school day, but the council said Hugglescote crossroads "has sufficient capacity" to cope with the extra traffic.

According to the LDRS, the highways team did suggest signal improvements be made to the crossroads to help lessen any impact. It added surrounding roads had "spare capacity" to cope with the increased in parking.

Councillors will meet later this week to debate the scheme.