‘Don’t build at school’
GOVERNORS URGE PARENTS TO OPPOSE HOMES PROPOSAL
PARENTS of pupils at a school have been urged to lodge their objections to plans to build houses on its playing field.
A section of Buswells Lodge Primary’s field in Beaumont Leys is one of 83 sites earmarked for housing in Leicester City Council’s draft local plan.
But governors have urged parents to write letters of objection about the eight homes potentially to be built on the site.
A letter, signed by chairman of governors, Lynn Wyeth, said: “As governors, we oppose this proposal for several reasons, the main one being the loss of a large green playing space for the children.
“The school has also spent a lot of money recently on security fencing which would have to be relocated at great expense.
“The Woodland Trust has also worked with us recently to plant 300 trees on our school field that would all need uprooting.
“We are extremely concerned about adding more traffic to the street with potentially eight to 16 more cars accessing and parking in Beauvale Drive, along with the awful disruption, danger to the children and noise that will be generated during any building of such properties, and an increase in traffic afterwards.”
Mrs Wyeth encouraged parents to make their views known and listed ways they can have their say.
She said: “It’s not just our school, there are others, too.
“For some children, the only exercise they get is at school and there’s not really anywhere nearby children could use instead to spend time safely outside. There are many reasons why we don’t want this to happen and while we know the sites are only being proposed at this stage we don’t want our playing field to be included as somewhere housing could be built.”
Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the consultation is the start of a conversation.
He said: “There are many sites within the local plan that are under consideration to help us meet the city’s housing need.
“There is no doubt some of them will be controversial and people can feed their thoughts into the consultation we are running.
“This is the first of many opportunities to discuss them.”
The local plan public consultation runs until December 7.
It can be viewed by visiting: