Plans to expand Beaconside Church of England Primary School have taken step forward after Westmorland and Furness Council submitted plans to itself as the local planning authority to add two new buildings onto the current school.
The expansion of the school will be funded using Section 106 funding provided to the council by housing developers from developments that have taken place in Penrith over the last decade. Developers are required to provide these funds as part of conditions placed on some housing development applications to ensure sufficient school places are available as new housing is built.
The expansion of the school will allow the number of children Beaconside can accommodate the influx of 119 additional pupils over a phased period including the provision of 14 new resource provision places for children in Key Stage 2.
Resource provision school places provide additional support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to make progress in their learning and take part in mainstream school life.
Milorad Vasic, Director of Children’s Services at Westmorland and Furness Council, said: “It’s really important we take the opportunity to utilise this available funding to the benefit of children and young people in Penrith, and ensure that for years to come we have sufficient school places including much needed resource provision supporting our children with additional needs.
Allan Harty, Assistant Director of Corporate Assets, Fleet and Capital Programme, said: “I’m glad to see this scheme progress as it demonstrates real investment in our communities and highlights the link between developer contributions and improving our school estate.”
The plans will see an existing stand alone classroom demolished along with a tree and a shed and the schools blue reading bus to be relocated in the school grounds.
With two new sustainable designed buildings constructed with a mix of cladding, brick and rendering externally and linked into the existing school building along with additional external access to the buildings created.
Along with creating space for new students the building will also see new bat boxes installed as part of the plans after a number of bags were recorded around the site during monitoring as part of the planning application but no signs of bats roosting were found.
Penrith town council had raised concerns about the plans to expand Beaconside schools during the consultation on plans to expand the school and increase the number of pupils at the school.
The plans are open for public consultation until the 26th February 2025 and can be viewed on the council’s planning portal at https://planningregister.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/Planning/Display/2024/2356/FPA
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