Bowsland Green Primary School has submitted a planning application to create eleven additional parking places within the school grounds despite having to withdraw a similar plan earlier this year because planning officials considered it “contentious”.
South Gloucestershire Council’s Local Plan suggests a cap of one parking space for every two members of staff, but with 15 spaces already available for the 30 staff (twelve of whom are part-time), the school agreed to drop the request from its earlier application in April.
Other aspects of that earlier plan, including the creation of a new school hall, were approved by the council in July.
Supporting documentation accompanying the latest application details the number of visitors to the school and the extent of community activities that take place there. The school’s agents say that these extra demands justify relaxing the cap:
As you will see, the school is very active and takes a pride in making itself an active hub for community activities. Clearly these activities bring to the school a large number of vehicles that are not reflected or catered for within the T8 guidance of spaces per members of staff.
The result of this is the inevitable large number of cars over-spilling from the school and parking in adjacent residential areas. Clearly this causes friction between the school and the local residents, which the Head Mistress, Clare Whitaker, constantly battles to address and placate.
One neighbour of the school has already pledged support for the proposal. The consultation period runs until Friday 27th November.
