Bilingual Primary School withdraws Hove Park planning application

The Bilingual Primary School has withdrawn its planning application to build new premises on the site of the Hove Park Depot.

The application to demolish three existing buildings and put up a three-storey school in The Droveway next to the Engineerium was recommended for refusal by planning officials.

It had attracted 124 letters of objection and 60 letters of support.

Head teacher Carolina Gopal wrote to parents today (Thursday 12 September) and said: “Having reviewed the planning case officers’ report for our planning application at Hove Park Depot we have been advised to withdraw our planning application.

“We will be working with planners to submit a revised application in the next few weeks that addresses the concerns in the current report.

“We are confident that we can design a scheme that planners and the local community will be able to support and bring our much-needed primary school to Hove.”

The school opened a year ago in temporary premises at the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) in Falmer where pupils are taught in English and Spanish.

It was oversubscribed last September and for the current academic year and is expected to outgrow its current home.

A report to the Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee said that the free school’s proposed use of the site was in line with the council’s policies.

It said: “The need for new (school) places is particularly acute in the west of the city.

“The proposed educational use of the site would therefore provide additional school places in an area of high demand.”

Planning officials said that the site, on the edge of Hove Park, was viewed as a “brownfield” site and added: “The development has the support of the council’s Children’s Services Team and would create a new primary school in an area of high demand without significant harm to neighbouring amenity or protected species or habitat.

“The development is though of a scale, massing and design that would harm the visual amenities of the wider surrounding area, including the setting of listed buildings and the character and appearance of the Engineerium Conservation Area.

“The scale of the proposed school would lead to localised on-street parking stress and would lead to road safety issues and interference with the free flow of traffic.”

The application was to have been heard alongside another application to demolish the existing buildings on the site.

The second application will be discussed at the Planning Committee meeting at Hove Town Hall at 2pm next Wednesday (18 September).

The meeting is open to the public.

The council continues to support the siting of the school on the site of the old depot. The Bilingual Primary School said: “We are completely confident that the school will be situated at the Hove Park Depot site.”