15/4/2008

Local News in Fleet

Parents relieved at school decision

Long awaited plans for an extension to an over-subscribed primary school look set to be approved.

Hart District Council’s planning committee has raised no objection to the extension at Elvetham Heath Primary School in Fleet.

Hampshire County Council’s regulatory committee will make a final decision on the scheme tomorrow (Wednesday) and is being recommended to grant planning permission.

The extension will provide room for an extra 210 pupils, bringing the school’s capacity to 630 places.

The news will delight worried parents on the estate who have fought to get their children a place in the local school.

There was anger when 28 children on the growing estate were initially denied places at the school for the 2006 intake.

Seventeen sets of parents appealed, maintaining that Hampshire County Council’s decision was unreasonable and that children who live on Elvetham Heath should go to the community’s school.

Those who appealed said the county council had made a “glaring error” when planning the size of the primary school.

They pointed out that for the previous two years the school had had to turn away a large number of four-year-olds, sending them instead to other primary schools in the Fleet area.

Hampshire County Council argued that the problem was likely to subside in the next few years, but campaigners warned that the development was not yet complete and large numbers of young families continued to move on to the estate.

Now the problems look set to be solved.

Hart’s planning committee discussed the planning application for the extension as an urgent item on Wednesday.

Cllr Stephen Parker, whose Fleet North ward covers the school, was delighted with the decision.

He said: “Members recognised that this was a very necessary improvement to education in the district.

“We know from experience that on new housing estates you have a higher proportion of children to start with because the people who buy in tend to be those with young families.

“However, over time the age range levels out and the demand for places at primary level tends to settle down.”

Cllr Sharyn Wheale, who represents Elvetham Heath on Hampshire County Council and is a member of its children’s services committee, is also delighted.

She said: “Elvetham Heath is a community in its own right and I am pleased that, with the support of many parents, Hampshire County Council has backed my campaign for a three-form entry school.”

Cllr Wheale said that as a governor she will liase between the school and the county council to ensure the building work runs as smoothly as possible with minimal disruption for pupils and staff.

To allow for the extension to be built, the county council is seeking to acquire a long leasehold interest in just over an acre of playing field adjoining the primary school.

To overcome this loss, the county council is entering into a legal agreement with Hart District Council and Beazer Homes Ltd for a £165,000 contribution towards a full-size floodlit artificial pitch as part of the new 300-home development at Hitches Lane, Fleet.

The school extension will include six classrooms, a music and drama room, an ICT suite and pupil toilets.

If approved it would make Elvetham Heath the largest primary school in Hart and one of the largest in Hampshire.

The extension scheme  includes the provision of a shared-use, junior-size grass playing field, a new netball court-sized playground, informal paved areas and a new early years enclosed play area linking to nature study areas and the new formal playground. The Environment Agency has objected to the application.

It fears that as the development does not include a flood risk assessment there could be an increased of surface water flooding on the site and elsewhere.

However, Hart councillors on the Fleet and Crookham Planning Advisory Group welcomed the scheme, hailing it as “a long awaited and greatly needed development”.

A county council spokeswoman said it intends to start construction on site at the start of the school summer holiday with a view to completing the extension ready for use from September 2009.

First printed in: Fleet News and Mail