Plans to convert old school house in Eye, Peterborough into special school refused
Planning officers raised a number of concerns about vehicles accessing and exiting the building.
Plans to build a new special school in Eye have been refused.
Plans to convert the former school building located on the north side of the village at 4 Crowland Road were first submitted in March. The building dates from 1855 and as well as being used as a school building it has more recently been used as a recording studio and offices.
The school was to cater for up to 25 children with learning disabilities who hold an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and are aged between 7-19 years old and would have been operated by Conquest Schools Ltd.
The application stated: “The school will work with most of the local authorities and clinical commissioning groups in England , Scotland and Wales. The school will provide tailored programs, therapeutic environments through our highly dedicated and experienced educational members who will empower individuals to achieve their personal best.
"The school will operate Monday - Friday 8.45 – 3.30pm , this is due to the expectation of the government to provide 32 hours per week per child (in line with state schools) but allow for a crossover of arrival times for different ages and key stages.
Most of the pupils will arrive with majority staff members via the minibus service which also serves the applicants for other businesses. The minibus is not held on site.
Planning officers have refused the application, however, due to highways concerns.
The refusal notice stated: “The proposal provides insufficient parking with substandard turning and lack of pickup/drop off facilities for mini-buses.
"Given the constraints of the site there are compromised parking spaces and insufficient off-street parking capacity. Furthermore, the surrounding highway is also restricted in parking opportunities.
"As such, users would be required to reverse vehicles onto Crowland Road, a classified public highway, and such manoeuvres are likely to increase dangers for highway users.”
The application can be viewed on Peterborough City Council’s planning portal using reference 24/00320/FUL.