Plans for new school in Heywood approved by councillors despite concerns over loss of playing fields

Plans for a new school for children with disabilities in the Rochdale borough have been approved by councillors despite concerns over traffic congestion and the loss of public playing fields.

The application for a two-storey school building on land north of West Starkey Street, Heywood was approved at Rochdale council’s Planning and Licensing Committee yesterday (Thursday, December 7).

The proposed site sits next to Heywood Sports Village to the west of the existing sports hall and car park. The new school would become part of the New Bridge Multi Academy Trust, which is made up of six schools across Tameside, Oldham and Rochdale.

The proposal from the Department for Education is to use the land, which is designated as recreational open space, for up to 76 pupils aged 11 to 19 with special educational needs and disabilities. The proposed development will include parking spaces for 32 cars, a multi-use games area, and a football pitch.

When asked about the potential for increased traffic congestion in the area, planning officers said there was no expectation that on-street parking would increase around the site, because most of the children would be transported to the school by minibus.

The planning application states that the playing fields which could be lost to make way for the new school site have been “abandoned since 2011”. A report submitted as part of the application describes the site as “overgrown brownfield land”.

 

 

The site was used for houses between between 1955 to 1977. It was demolished and turned into playing fields until December 2011 when “a player fell and sustained a bad injury on ‘building rubble’ that had reportedly risen to the surface over time across the site”, according to the planning statement.

However, Sport England (SE) has objected to the development due to its playing fields policy. SE opposes planning permission which would lead to the loss of playing fields, but the objection could be withdrawn if an exception is met to provide a “replacement area of playing field and associated facilities can be provided which are equivalent or better than the existing area”.

This means the application will be referred to the secretary of state before work can begin.

Declan Carey, Local Democracy Reporter