Urgently seeking consent for its £1.2 million new Sixth Form Study Centre, St John’s Academy, Marlborough, will face a legal challenge from Marlborough Town Council when the project goes before Wiltshire’s planners on Thursday.
The Town Council’s planning committee vehemently objected to the scheme in April when it was proposed to provide only four parking places for the 120 student additional students, as well as staff.
And it did so again last night (Monday) when revised plans providing 15 parking places and a car-sharing scheme for students, councillors exploding in anger at the Academy’s refusal to discuss the parking logjam hitting the town.
“We went to see the headmaster to discuss the problem and he wouldn’t listen to us,” protested the Mayor, Councillor Marian Hannaford-Dobson. “He said we have no policy of providing car parking spaces for students. We did point out to him gently, ‘You must learn to be a good neighbour’.”
While councillors heaped praised on the Academy’s excellent educational achievements, Councillor Justin Cook declared: “They simply can’t ride roughshod over the community because the Academy wants to expand.
“They may be a fantastic school but their attitude of not being part of the community is not healthy. This town infrastructure-wise is creaking under the parking strain every day.”
The argument became even more heated when Councillor Stewart Dobson, a member of Wiltshire Council’s eastern area planning committee, revealed that the county had “for some strange reason” accepted the Study Centre planning application without it being accompanied by a vital “travel plan”, as laid down in legislation.
“I have now discovered one is being prepared from September onwards and will be available next March, by which time, of course, if the planning application is accepted on Thursday, the Sixth Form Centre will have already been built. So it will be too late to do anything.”
Then Debbie Lorrain, a resident of Ducks Meadow, which together with Orchard Road, has been clogged with students’ cars, was given permission to speak – the only member of the public to stay for the post 9pm committee meeting.
She pointed to the legal necessity for all planning applications to be supported by adequate car parking regulations, in the case of the Academy, one parking space per 10/20 students over the age of 17, which wasn’t adhered to for the 400 affected students at St John’s, nor for the additional 120 students due to attend the Sixth Form Centre.
Students refused to park further away because of the steep climb up to the Academy. “They never in a millions years are going to do it,” she protested. “It is not the kids’ fault. They don’t understand that they have to have adequate parking.
“They should buy the field next door. That’s the only way they can do it.”
Councillor Richard Allen pointed out that the parking dilemma was exacerbated by the fact that students would arrive at the new Study Centre at different times for different sessions and there was no public transport system to support that from the villages surrounding Marlborough.
“Fifteen parking spaces are woefully inadequate,” he said. “Just go and see the difference in parking in Orchard Road and Ducks Meadow in school holidays and then in term time.
“We are all fully in support of the Academy extending the size of its sixth form, but it cannot do so at the cost to the residents of this town.”
And he went on to demand that the Town Council tested the legality of the whole proposal.
Councillor Guy Loosmore called for a positive approach, declaring that the real issue was how to deal with parking in often gridlocked Marlborough, trying to fit 120 students into 15 parking places totally failing to address the issue.
“What we need to do is to propose a viable scheme for parking rather than knocking, knocking, knocking the project,” he added. “We do have to get into dialogue, we do have to challenge this and say we should have 40 parking spaces, and for them to come back to us and say what is available.”
Councillor Mervyn Hall, a retired civil engineer who is the newly-elected chairman of the planning committee, called for a motion to send to Thursday’s meeting of the Wiltshire planning committee.
The committee then agreed to a three-point motion, which supported in principle to Sixth Form Centre provision but rejected the planning application and, in the absence of a designated travel plan for the development demanded the provision of a minimum of 40 parking places.
And finally opposed planning consent because “it does not meet legal planning requirements.”
| Headmaster seeks urgent parents’ support for St John’s Sixth Form Centre project |
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A letter to parents headed Urgent has been posted on the St John’s website by headmaster Dr Patrick Hazlewood, which seeks their support in the Academy’s bid for planning consent for its new Sixth Form Centre. He writes: “As you may know from the local press our planning application was called in to be heard by the Eastern Area Planning Committee. The Committee will be meeting this Thursday, 5 June to vote and decide whether to approve our application. “The new £1.2 million Sixth Form Study Centre will reduce the current pressure on space, and ensure more of our students can remain at St John’sto study in our outstanding sixth form. The grant is time limited, and if consent is not given this week, St John’s will lose the funding and we will not be able to build the new centre. “In a time of austerity to be allocated this money is remarkable; if we lose it we will not get another opportunity. I’m certain a last minute flurry of support for the new building will help persuade the councillors to vote in favour of our project. “It would be very much appreciated if you could write, email or call the councillors to make them aware of your support.” |
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