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Withington set for secondary school approval
8 Nov 2019, 10:40 Chloé Vaughan
An application for a 101,500 sq ft secondary school next to Hough End playing fields is set to be approved at Manchester City Council’s planning committee next week.
The school has space for 1,200 pupils between the ages of 11-16, and would be stepped between one, two, and three-storeys. Almost 140 car parking spaces are also proposed along with an all-weather pitch and a four court multi-use games area near the sports hall.
CHS South, a temporary build school which is located nearby, will take the school upon its completion as its permanent location.
The 10.6-acre site, which was formerly a care home before it was demolished, is now use by the Greater Manchester police as a police dog training area, horse paddock and sports pitches. The proposed development also includes the reprovision of the horse paddock and dog training area for the police to the north of the school boundary.
The site is bounded by the Didsbury-bound Metrolink line to the south west, the GM Police compound known as The Hough End Centre to the east, Broughton Park Rugby Club, and Hough End Playing Fields.
The scheme has attracted both letters of support and objection. The six letters of support commented on the need for more school provision, its positive impact on the community, the lack of negative impact it could cause, and the facilities it would provide for the police.
The five letters of objection comment on the school’s impact on parking and manouvering at the drop off and pick up on Chelsfield Grove and Mauldeth Road West, the subsequent increase in noise and traffic pollution, and the potential for accidents. A request has been made to make the kerbs higher on Chelsfield Grove to combat parking.
An objection also came from nearby Loreto High School, which said that “the concentration of secondary schools does not appropriately meet the needs of Manchester’s local communities” and queried the “demand for secondary schools in Chorlton and Didsbury.”
Bam is the main contractor attached to the development an Pozzoni is the architect.