RESIDENTS living near a school that will nearly double in size if proposed expansion plans go ahead, claim they have still not received consultation letters from Warrington Borough Council.
People living near Grappenhall Heys Primary School say dropping off and picking up time is already hazardous with vehicles performing u-turns involving near misses with children
Residents in Boddington Drive, which is 352 meters from the school, say they have still not received any notification and fear many others in the area will be unaware of the expansion plans which are due to new housing developments in the area.
One resident who did not wish to be named said: “We still haven’t received a consultation letter from WBC despite the consultation period starting 12th Jan.
“It appears that many people around Grappenhall Heys haven’t had this letter either.
“WBC told me initially this had gone out to households with a 2-mile radius. Now they have changed that to 1-mile radius.
“They are now saying there was an error with the mailing list and are now extending the deadline for comments to 23rd February!
“We are disappointed to find that more than two weeks after the consultation opened, we, and many others, still have not received a consultation letter.
“We only found out about the consultation from a flyer stuck to a lamp post by the school.
The concerned resident says recent plans submitted by Urban Splash to build 238 homes at Grappenhall Heys, reveals that land behind Jodrell Drive will now be built on.
In 2017, when outline planning was passed, this land, which is adjacent to the school, was earmarked for additional car parking for the future school expansion.
“There is only one entrance and exit road to get to the school, Keepers Road. At school pickup and drop off the junction is very dangerous, with motorists doing U-turns at the busy T-junction, and mounting the pavements to park.
“On numerous occasions, there have been near misses of cars and children crossing the roads. Unfortunately, no-one (WBC, Parish Council or the police) seems interested in sorting out this problem.
“WBC tells us that the school is unadopted – despite the housing estate being here more than 19 years! So it appears not to be their problem. In addition to the safety issue, we cannot see how WBC can plan to double the size of the school in Sept 2022 with no plans to provide additional parking when the school reaches 460 pupils. Residents already have a battle almost daily with inconsiderate parents blocking their driveway entrances.
“WBC has said that they don’t foresee a problem as many of the additional 230 pupils will be local to the area, so assume they will walk.
“We all know this not to be the case with very few parents walking their children to school these days.
“What WBC needs to do is build a car park which is accessed off Lumbrook Road and would not involve pulling all the school traffic through a tight housing estate.
“They also need to address the current pinch points such as Lumbrook Bridge which is already gridlocked at school times.
“It is important that all residents receive notification of this school consultation to give them the opportunity to comment and have these counted>
The Borough Council says Grappenhall is an area of population growth which means more school places will be needed. Grappenhall Heys Community Primary school (GHCPS) has been identified as being best placed to meet the needs of the area by increasing its current capacity.
The plans to expand the school, from a one form entry to a two-form entry (210 additional primary school places) will ensure the community has sufficient school places to meet the projected demand from local housing developments from September 2022.
The period of consultation has now been extended to February 23.
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that 1,068 letters have been sent out to local residents within a 2 mile radius of the school. We have so far received 81 responses to the consultation of which 44% state that they are a local resident”.
