School’s extension allowed if set-down areas are provided
PLANNING permission has been granted for a new extension at the primary school in Strandhill, but as a condition the school must provide new set-down areas after Sligo County Council’s area engineer raised concerns about congestion at the school gate at times of pick up and drop off times. Gabriel Gormley, chairperson of the board of management of Scoil Asicus Naofa, applied for planning permission for a new extension of 134 square metres, which would include one mainstream classroom, a universal toilet, boiler house and link corridor.
The school is located along the road from Strandhill village to the golf club.
The council planner noted that the area engineer had raised concerns about congestion at the school gate at times of pick up and drop off times and “the lack of adequate facilities to facilitate the orderly pick up and drop off of children”.
The engineer felt that given the addition of another classroom to the school that the school should be requested to submit proposals to address this situation.
The planner asked the school to submit proposals for the creation of a safe set down area set back from the public road. The school responded with a site layout plan indicating the creation of two set down areas on either side of the main school building for 14 cars, with two metre wide footpaths.
The area engineer considered that the plans were acceptable in principle but prior to commencement the school should submit plans showing defined safe pedestrian access points from the set down area to the school grounds, existing paths and proposed new paths and surface water drainage pipework from set down area and disposal point.
Another condition of the planning permission is that the school engage the services of a suitably qualified archaelogist to carry out pre-development testing at the site as the northernmost proposed set down area is within the area of notification surrounding an adjacent national monument (the remains of an ancient enclosure at Carrowbunnaun). Otherwise the planner considered the the design of the proposed extension to the acceptable and noted that the layout of the extension was “deemed by the school as the most suitable for their needs at this time and will facilitate future necessary extensions”.