Contact: Martin Leeds, ext 6733 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 Planning permission is sought for the demolition of an existing kitchen and stores and the construction of a new single storey hall with associated accommodation, provision of a new internal link road and relocating the existing hard play area, at Breamore Church of England Primary School, Salisbury Road, Breamore. New Forest District Council is objecting to the proposals as it considers the proposed new building is contrary to policy by virtue of its size, its dominance on the existing rural scale of the lane, loss of three trees, and the adverse effect on the conservation area. Concerns have also been expressed by Breamore Parish Council at the size of the proposal, impact on the existing area and loss of trees. Two letters of objection from local residents have been received on the loss of the same trees.

2. Recommendation

Notwithstanding the objections, planning consent is recommended for the following reason, subject to conditions set out in Appendix 1.

Reason for Approval

It is considered the proposal would be in accordance with the development plan (summary attached in Appendix 2) and would not materially harm the character of the area or amenity of local residents and would be acceptable in terms of highway safety.

3. Site

3.1 The existing school site (as shown on the attached plan) lies within the Breamore Conservation Area. It is roughly triangular in shape and is an "island site" towards the southern end of the village. The existing school building has a traditional appearance with red facing brickwork and clay tile roofing and is in the lower part of the site with an existing hard play area due east of the main building. To the east is a hedged boundary with the main A338 Ringwood to Salisbury road. On the opposite side of this highway is a public house and housing. North of the main school building is a grass area with trees on its western boundary which adjoins a narrow lane that leads to the school car parking area, a few houses and agricultural land. South of the school car park is the school's playing field and further farm land. There is a hedgerow between the playing field and parking area. Access to the site is from the main road and a voluntary one-way vehicle system operates within the site so that vehicles exit on to the lane due west of the school buildings.

3.2 The existing school buildings include a 1990s extension that comprises four extra classrooms, reception area and associated office accommodation. Most of this new accommodation was built at the southern end of the site and designed to complement the original school building.

4. Proposal

4.1 As part of the County Council's Children's Services Department Modernisation Programme, it is proposed to construct a single storey extension to the northern end of the existing school building. The proposed accommodation will comprise a new 120 square metre school hall, (the existing hall being only 38 square metres), new kitchen, associated storage, plant and circulation requirements. The proposal will also allow for a library/resources room to be created in the existing building and ancillary works elsewhere within the school building. In addition, the school's heating system and energy efficiency will be improved.

4.2 The proposed extension will align with the ridge height of the adjoining former school house roof and will have clay tiles and facing brickwork to match as closely as possible in type, colour and texture to those on the existing building. The decorative bands of roof tiles will also be carried through onto the new roof.

4.3 In order to build the extension it will be necessary to demolish some existing buildings which are of poor quality and fail to meet modern standards of access. In addition, it will be necessary to remove three well established willow trees on the school's boundary with the lane. The willows are continually shedding branches and are not considered suitable and safe for an educational site as the branches can fall on those below without warning. The accommodation to be demolished will be replaced within the new extension and elsewhere in the existing school building. By providing the new facilities this will help towards the recommended accommodation for a primary school but will not provide any extra classrooms. It will, however, provide a benefit for the existing pupils and staff at the school, particularly the use of the hall for physical education and lunchtimes when such school activities need a larger meeting space, replacing the current limited facilities within the school. The local Community Hall which is sometimes used for school activities requires children to cross the main road to get to it.

4.4 In addition to the new school hall, the existing hard school play area on the eastern part of the school campus will be relocated on the current car park which will itself be relocated close to the link road; this will also have a drop-off area. Relocation of the play area will allow the school to have further security for the children and remove the pupils from the side of the very busy A338. The link road will exit on to the lane where one more tree has to be removed. A one-way system of traffic movement will operate within the site; the entrance will continue to be the existing main access from the A338 Salisbury Road and exit via the lane onto the A338.

4.5 The proposed windows are to be aluminium and are understood to be the best quality for the school in terms of thermal performance and maintenance. However, the detailing of the windows will never match that of the existing windows because of the performance standards required in the current Building Regulations. The windows do not mimic the existing but are sympathetic to their design and would complement what is at the school already.

5. Other Issues

5.1 Landscape - it will be necessary to fell four willow trees, three of which are required to be removed for health and safety reasons after branches have blown down. The school has already planted replacement trees in anticipation of the extension. The existing hedgerows on the school boundary will be retained and additional planting is to be carried out in the school grounds. "Sharks teeth" (low wooden posts with an angled top, not pointed) are to be installed at the rear of the new school hall on the lane, to protect the building and prevent cars from parking and blocking the lane.

5.2 Bats and Nesting Birds - A bat survey was carried out in June 2007 and evidence of bats found in some of the school building voids. An inspection of trees on the site, including those to be felled, concluded they had very few features of bat roost potential and were considered to have low potential overall. An appropriate licence to deal with the bats is to be sought from Natural England once planning consent has been granted. In addition, the survey indicated that the site supported some nesting birds.

5.3 Conservation Area - The school is within the Breamore Conservation Area and the design of the proposed hall, which under normal circumstances would require the hall to be a minimum of 150 square metres floor area, has been reduced to 120 square metres to keep the extension in scale with the existing school and to a proportion that suits the site. The extension has been designed to complement the existing school buildings and to help balance the overall appearance of the school.

6. Development Plan

6.1 New Forest District Local Plan First Alteration Adopted August 2005 shows the site as an existing school within a Conservation Area. The relevant Policy is DW-E23 (New Development in Conservation Areas).

6.2 Hampshire County Structure Plan 1996-2011 (Review) [Adopted 2000]. The relevant Policy is UB3 (Appropriate development).

7. Consultations

7.1 New Forest District Council objects to the application for the following reasons:

"The proposed development is contrary to Policy DW-E23 of the adopted New Forest District Local Plan First Alteration in that:

(i) the introduction of a large building, with its unbroken mass, and in particular the vast roofscape, would appear unduly dominant radically altering the existing intimate rural scale of the lane, and would be visually intrusive harmful to the existing building group and the character and appearance of the Conservation Area;

(ii) the existing school building currently has a distinctive elevation with its simple well crafted detail, and the resultant loss of this part of the building would be harmful to the overall character of the Conservation Area; and

(iii) the siting and size of the building located hard against the road edge, together with the loss of trees, would adversely impact on the verdant rural character of the lane to the detriment of the character and appearance of the Conservation Area."

7.2 Breamore Parish Council has expressed concern over the design of the extension which it considers would look totally wrong in the village, given the mass and bulk of the proposed building, and is out of keeping with the character of the Conservation Area. The Parish Council also has concerns at the loss of trees as a result of the proposed development. However, it has advised that it would support a more moderate proposal.

7.3 Natural England has no objection to the proposed development; however, if bats are identified during the course of the development, any works started must stop and Natural England be contacted.

7.4 The Highways Authority has no objection in principle subject to conditions and also considers that as the A338 is a designated lorry route, the predicted number of lorry movements of approximately two a day for the proposed construction of the development is not likely to have an impact on the local highways.

7.5 The local Member, Councillor Mrs Heron, is supportive of the school modernisation with emphasis on better safety and facilities brought up to the Council standard.

8. Representations

8.1 Two letters have been received from local residents objecting to the loss of the willow trees as part of the proposed development.

9. Chief Planning Adviser's Comments

9.1 The objections and concerns from the New Forest District Council, Breamore Parish Council and the two letters received for local residents are noted.

9.2 The school is an existing development within the Breamore village Conservation Area. The need to improve the building previously resulted in additions in the 1990s, when a major extension was added to the southern end of the existing buildings, providing additional classrooms and ancillary accommodation. Those extensions were large when compared to the existing school building but the sympathetic design and use of appropriate materials mitigated the impact. There is now a need to provide a much improved school hall since the existing one is only 38 square metres and within the older part of the school buildings.

9.3 It is acknowledged that, in order to meet prevailing standards, the proposed hall is relatively large. However, as the school is in a conservation area, and to reduce some of the proposed bulk of the new building, the usable internal floor area for the hall has been reduced from the prescribed 150 square metres to 120 square metres. It is not possible to reduce it any further. In addition, and to meet internal height requirements for indoor sports, it was necessary to have the roof line the same height as the adjoining school building. Moreover, the external design of that roof is also needed to support the clay tiles - a reduced height would require a different roofing material. The proposed external facing bricks and roofing materials to be used would match as closely as possible in type, texture and colour, to those on the nearby building.

9.4 It is acknowledged the new hall will require the loss of three mature willow trees on the school's western boundary where it adjoins the lane and that their removal will leave a gap on this part of the school boundary. However, by positioning the hall at the northern end of the main school buildings and linking it into the existing roof line, not only does it balance the overall appearance of the school buildings, particularly with an existing extension at the southern end, but it was the only practicable place to locate it. If the new hall were to be positioned elsewhere, its size would be even more noticeable in the street scene.

9.5 Siting the new hall at the northern end of the existing school buildings will allow the existing school hard play area to be relocated to part of the school grounds, where it can be more securely protected and closer to the playing field. This in turn allows the car park area to be relocated to the front of the school campus and the new internal link road with drop-off facility incorporated into it.

9.6 Although one tree needs to be removed to provide a route for the link road to join the lane and allow the requisite visibility splay, there are other trees along this boundary. Therefore it is not considered that either this part of the site or the rest of the campus would lose its general character. The school governors have already planned to plant suitable trees in the north-east corner of the school grounds to landscape that area once the works are completed. The four removed trees will be replaced by four English Oak to be planted by the pupils in the playing field. The pupils planted 675 trees and native hedging provided by Hampshire Wildlife Trust around the playing field earlier this year.

9.7 It is accepted that the existing original school building has a distinctive detailed elevation; however, the later southern extension was not designed to mimic that detail, but complement it with external materials that matched the existing. The same complementary approach has been adopted with the design of the proposed hall building. In addition, most of the proposed extension will be to the rear of the existing school building, so its overall appearance when viewed from the school frontage would be reduced.

9.8 Since the design of the new hall has been considered in the context of its effect on the existing school building and how it fits into the conservation area, it is considered that under the provisions of the Local Plan under the relevant Policy DW-E23 (New Development in Conservation Areas), the design is not contrary to that Policy. Planning consent is therefore recommended.

1401/ML

APPENDIX 1

Conditions

(1) The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date on which this planning permission was granted.

Reason: To comply with Section 91(as amended) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

(2) The external facing bricks and roofing tiles including the decorative tiling to be used, shall match as closely as possible in type, colour and texture to those on the existing building.

Reason: To secure a satisfactory development.

(3) The trees and hedging to be retained shall be protected during building and demolition operations by the erection of sturdy protective fencing. This fencing shall be retained for the duration of the works and no materials, plant, machinery or waste matter, shall be stored within the protection zone.

Reason: To ensure the enhancement of the development by the retention of natural features.

(4) Only those trees which are to be felled shall be marked at least two days beforehand with a paint band.

Reason: To ensure the retention of other trees in the interest of the character of the Conservation Area.

(5) Occupation of the new Hall building shall not commence until provision for the parking, loading and unloading of vehicles has been made within the curtilage of the school campus. The areas of land so provided shall not be used for any purpose other than the parking, loading and unloading of vehicles.

Reason: In the interests of highway safety.

(6) Before the new Hall is occupied, the internal link road with its egress point shall have been constructed and made availabe for use. The egress shall be constructed with a visibility splay of 2.4 metres by 33 metres to the left and a clear visibility to the right up to the Salisbury Road junction. These visibility splays shall be kept free at all times.

Reason: In the interests of highway safety.

(7) Measures shall be taken to prevent mud and spoil from vehicles leaving the site during the demolition / construction works being deposited on the public highway. No vehicle shall leave the site unless its wheels have been cleaned sufficiently to prevent mud being carried on to the public highway. In the event that any mud or spoil is deposited on the highway, it shall be cleaned-off on each day of working.

Reason: In the interests of highway safety.

(8) There shall be no access to the development site by any traffic associated with the construction/demolition (ie no delivery vehicles, no contractors' cars, nor plant and machinery) in the morning between 0830 and 0915 hours; and in the afternoon between 1520 and 1550 hours on normal school days.

Reason: In the interests of public safety and, to avoid traffic conflict at the times of the day when pupils are arriving at and departing from school.

(9) No work relating to the construction of the development approved, including works of preparation prior to operations, the delivery of construction materials, skips or machinery, nor the removal of waste materials, shall take place before 0800 hours or after 1800 hours Monday to Friday inclusive, before 0800 hours or after 1600 hours on Saturday and not at all on Sunday or recognised public holidays, unless otherwise agreed beforehand in writing with the Local Planning Authority.

Reason: To protect the amenities of occupiers of nearby properties.

APPENDIX 2

Annexe to Reason for Conditions

(as required by Article 22 of the Town and Country Planning

(General Procedure) Order 1995 - as amended)

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Hampshire County Structure Plan 1996-2011 (Review) (Adopted 2000)

Policy UB3 (Appropriate development)

All development permitted in accordance with other policies of this Plan should be appropriate in design, scale, layout and density to its surroundings and contribute to the quality of the built environment.

New Forest District Local Plan First Alteration Adopted August 2005

Policy DW-E23 (New development in Conservation Areas)

Development, including alterations and extensions, shall not detract from, and shall preserve or enhance the character and appearance of Conservation Areas. Particular regard shall be given to:

a) scale, form, materials and detailing, which should respect the characteristics of the building and the locality; and

b) the plot coverage characteristics of the historic area; and

c) retention of historically significant boundaries and other elements contributing to the established pattern of development in the area; and

d) the protection of open spaces important to the character and historic value of the Conservation Area, including those within individual curtilages; and

e) the protection of important views into and out of the Conservation Area; and

f) the protection of trees and other landscape features contributing to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.