Some people are angry that the sports hall will be available for community use outside school hours
A grammar school’s plans for a new sports hall and sixth form centre has faced opposition from neighbours angry about future community use outside school hours and call it overdevelopment of the area. A local councillor has called it in for committee approval despite the plans getting twice as much support.
West Kirby Grammar School for Girls based on Graham Road in West Kirby, Wirral has applied for permission to build a new sports hall as well as a sixth form centre and dining facilities. An existing gymnasium would be demolished to make way for the new facilities which would have community access outside school hours.
The plans have 28 people in support who said it was a “much needed addition to the school” and “well thought-out” providing educational benefits as well as positives for the wider community with little disturbance to neighbours. Those in favour said it would be “improving pupil’s school life and opportunities” and would be a “vital resource for the local community.”
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However 14 people have objected arguing people were not properly engaged with and the scale of the new hall would be an overdevelopment and overbearing on the nearby 87 Meols Drive. They argued it would result in a loss of privacy, cause traffic problems, and “community use outside school hours would be inappropriate for a residential area.”
To be decided by councillors 25 or more people have to oppose plans, but the application has been called in by Hoylake councillor Max Booth. He argues the plans are inappropriate and “also results in harm” to the surrounding conservation area.
This means councillors will decide whether to approve the plans on November 7. No objections were raised either by the Hoylake Conservation Association either though they did ask for the development to be screened by trees and shrubs and other measures will be taken to screen nearby properties.
Recommending the plans for approval, Wirral Council officers said the development “would not be unduly prominent, or dominating to Meols Drive itself” though accepted there would be minor harm to the appearance of the area. Officers said the benefits far outweighed any harms as a result.
A council report added: “It is anticipated that the benefits arising from the improved school’s sport facilities will not only enable year-round sports activities but an improved sports curriculum and extracurricular opportunities. The school hope that in turn this will bring further benefits in terms of greater student participation and physical well-being and deliver social and educational betterment for its pupils.”
At the same meeting, councillors will also decide whether to approve a new children’s home in Moreton and the refurbishment of an existing building into a sports club at Pool Lane, Bromborough.