Village loses fight to stop school

Controversial plans for the former Rodney School, Kirklington, were approved by Newark and Sherwood District Council on Tuesday, despite strong opposition.

Plans for a new accommodation building, alterations to Kirklington Hall and the demolition and replacement of changing rooms were approved by the planning committee by eight votes to six.

Kedleston UK Ltd wants to use the building as a residential school for children who cannot be educated in mainstream schools. The company has a similar school in Cumbria.

The school would start with six pupils and 30 staff, building up to 36 pupils and about 70 staff.

The head of planning, Mr Michael Evans, said permission was not needed for the continuation of the use as a residential school.

The only matters that the committee had to consider were the changes to the hall and new buildings.

He recommended that the four applications be granted, and said he thought the new buildings were sympathetic to the existing building.

He said alterations to Kirklington Hall, which is listed for protection, had been kept to a minimum.

“I do not consider the proposals will result in a development that has any more of an impact on the village and the adjacent residents than the previous school when it was operating at its normal capacity,” he said.

Kirklington Parish Council objected and questioned the view that the application did not need a change of use.

Concerns included worries about the supervision and control of the children, the impact on traffic, a fear of crime, adverse effect on the listed building and intrusive visual impact.

Mr Graham Wheatcroft, on behalf of the parish council, said the opposition to the scheme was unprecedented and was the biggest issue that Kirklington faced in living memory.

He said there would be no local benefits.

Mrs Nora Armstrong, the district councillor for the area, said the application should be rejected on highways grounds.

She said there had been 78 accidents on the road through the village in the last six years and there would be an increase in traffic because of the school.

Mr Roger Blaney sympathised with the villagers and parish council but said it was only planning issues they had to consider.

Mr Ben Wells said there were no planning grounds on which to refuse.