Health plan for school building

HAMPSHIRE County Council is hoping to put a empty school caretaker’s building into use.

The council plans to change the use of the vacant house on The Wavell School site, in Lynchford Road, into a health dropin clinic, group work room and two counselling rooms.

A planning application was submitted to Rushmoor Borough Council this month. If approved, the existing kitchen on the site will also be upgraded, to provide a small kitchenette.

No works are proposed to the external elevations of the building but access will be improved with the remodelling of the existing path.

The building dates back to 1969 but has been empty for the last two years.

The proposal forms part of the county council’s £147 million capital investment to create new school places throughout Hampshire and ensure there is a space for every child in the county by 2016.

Further plans have been approved to build additional classrooms at Tower Hill Primary, Wellington Primary and Wellington Community schools, in Aldershot, and at South Farnborough County and Farnborough Grange Infant schools.

A decision on the proposal for The Wavell School caretaker’s building is expected today (Thursday). A county council spokesman said: “Demand is growing, and it’s due not just to an increase in the birth rate, but to new housing developments and more families attracted into Hampshire.”