Nottinghamshire County Council’s planning committee discussed the proposed extension to Chuter Eder Primary School, in Hunters Road, Fernwood.

A village primary school’s numbers will double after council approval but plans were criticised for not including a drop-off point.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s planning committee met today (March 11) to discuss the proposed extension to Chuter Eder Primary School, in Hunters Road, Fernwood.

The plans were submitted by the authority’s own Children and Families department and were accepted by the committee today.

The primary school, which is an annex of Chuter Ede Primary School in Wolfit Avenue, Balderton, opened in 2012 and its expansion is to accommodate the growing population in Fernwood.

In February 2024, Newark and Sherwood District Council approved Persimmon Homes’ wider plans for a 1,800-property development off Shire Lane.

Other developments by Allison Homes in the south and Barratt David Wilson Homes in the north mean the area will see more than 3,000 new homes built in total across the village.

Expansion plans include a single-storey extension to the existing single-storey school, enabling pupil numbers to double from 210 to 420 and requiring 14 extra full-time staff and seven part-time staff.

Philip Owen said he read the plans with “incredulity and growing anger” over the lack of a drop-off and pick-up facility for parents.

He said: “The issue of a drop off facility, we have made it clear that that is what we expect, all members around this table are sick and tired of the complaints we get about parking at schools and what can we do about it.”

He questioned whether an extra condition requesting a pick-up and drop-off point could be added to the plans.

Jaspreet Lyall, solicitor and Legal advisor to the Committee, said that a new condition cannot be added as it would require a new application.

André Camilleri asked: “[A drop-off point] would improve pedestrian safety- if somebody gets knocked down, would we be liable for not taking that into consideration?”

Mr Lyall responded: “You wouldn’t be held liable in this circumstance, [the plans] is not saying it’s fundamentally unsafe, I think its saying it could be safer but actually is safe as is.”

Mike Adams said: “I’ve spent mornings, afternoons, with police stood outside [schools], directing parents, the police get people face-to-face giving them a torrent of abuse because they’re asking them to move on, they get called all sorts of names because we don’t create a decent parking facility outside schools.”

Mr Lyall reminded the committee: “Development should only be prevented or refused on highways grounds if there’s an unacceptable impact on highway safety.

“There is no objection from the highway authority here so I would say it#s quite difficult to frame this highway safety issue as being unacceptable in the context of the technical judgement that’s needed.”

No objections were raised by the public regarding parking issues.

Jim Creamer said: “If we start arguing about it and refusing it and asking to put plans it again, we’re possibly going to lose any appeal anyway, it’s predicated on the number of children its got to look after and that’s right and proper.”

Plans were approved with eight for votes and three against.

Eight classrooms will be provided from the plans, along with new sport pitches and outdoor play areas, including a running track, rounders pitch, an under-7s five-a-side football pitch and two hard PE courts.

Staff car parking will increase from 16 to 48, including three existing disabled spaces.

The extension is expected to be complete by September 2026, with the construction expected to last a year.

Temporary access for construction workers would be provided to the north on Hunters Road, which means access through the school grounds is not needed.