Decision day for school expansion

North Somerset Council has submitted a planning application to extend St Nicholas Chantry Primary School to allow it to take an extra 105 pupils over seven years.

As well as a single-storey extension creating four new classrooms, the project would involve remodelling and enhancing the inside of the buildings already on the Highdale Avenue site.

The application will be discussed at a meeting of the authority’s planning and regulatory committee on October 8. A report written for the commitee by council planning officers has recommend the application be approved despite Clevedon Town Council objecting to it.

In a statement to North Somerset Council, the town council said: “The plans for the extension of the building at the school were supported, however, the members present agreed to recommend refusal on the basis that the extension of the school is progressing without sufficiently addressing existing and future traffic and parking problems.”

In April, a petition containing signatures of those living near the school was also handed to the council, calling for traffic surveys to be carried out and a proper access solution put forward before the expansion takes place.

As part of their recommendations, planning officers have set out a number of conditions that would have to be met if the proposals are approved.

These include the creation of a loop parking area for drop-off and collections which will become a permanent fixture on the site and will be staffed at all busy times to ensure parents do not park outside of the marked bays.

To discourage parents from driving to school, eleven bike and scooter stands will also be created for pupils to use.

Pupil number forecasts have identified that by September next year there will not be enough primary school places in Clevedon to meet demand.

The proposed extension would allow St Nicholas Chantry to have a total capacity of 420 pupils from September 2015,