PLANS to demolish a historic Victorian school building in Frampton Cotterell have been dropped – but the building’s future is still in doubt.
South Gloucestershire Council applied to its own planning department in March for permission to demolish the building on the former Watermore Primary School infant site in Woodend Road, which was previously known as Brockeridge Infant School.
The council sold the site to housing association LiveWest to help fund the new Watermore Primary School building in Lower Stone Close, which opened in 2020.
LiveWest wants to build up to 21 affordable homes on the site.
But the application sparked a huge wave of opposition from residents, many of whom either attended the school, which was built in 1846, or sent their children there.
382 objections to demolition plan
A total of 382 objections were received to the demolition notice, with only four people in favour, and it was withdrawn in April.
Residents expressed anger and dismay at the prospect of losing a historic and “gorgeous” building to be replaced by a new-build scheme.
A council spokesperson said: “South Gloucestershire Council, in consultation with LiveWest, has withdrawn the demolition notice for the former Watermore Infant School site in order to allow time for engagement with residents who have raised concerns about the loss of the Victorian school building.
“Both parties remain committed to delivering a high quality scheme of 100% affordable housing on the site and believe the removal of the building alongside a sympathetic reconstruction of the building’s facade finds the right balance between practicality and heritage.
“Following a period of public engagement, LiveWest expects to submit a planning application for the site, allowing residents to have their say on all aspects of their proposal and to fully engage with the planning process.”
2 options – none include preserving building
LiveWest held a consultation event (above) in April at the Brockeridge Centre, opposite the school building, where it displayed two options for the site.
But one of the options involved completely demolishing the Victorian school building and replacing it with homes built in a “contemporary style”.
The other “retains the facade of the old school building to preserve the character of the street scene” but does not retain the whole building.
The developer said: “This will be achieved by rebuilding the facade slightly further back from the road to give a more sympathetic position to neighbouring properties and will be constructed using reclaimed stone from the existing school building.”
LiveWest’s original plans for the site, which were unveiled in 2021 and approved the following year, included keeping the Victorian school building and converting it into six flats.
Conversion of building ‘challenging and expensive’ – developer
In its information boards at the consultation, the company told residents: “The locally listed building is considered of merit to local people and we understand that there has been some hope to keep and convert the building.
“We have thoroughly considered trying to convert the building (predominantly a school hall) however conversion would be challenging and expensive to undertake.”
It says these include structural issues with the building, foundations and fire regulations, limited internal space and windows set at levels which create “awkward and challenging spaces for occupation”, space for fewer affordable homes and rooms that were inefficient to heat.
It told visitors to the consultation the combination of challenges made using the school building “uneconomical”.
‘100% affordable homes’
LiveWest development director Gareth Jones said: “We are currently reviewing everyone’s views, and these will be taken into consideration before we submit a planning application to the council.
“We remain committed to delivering a high-quality development of 100 per cent affordable homes in an area where there is high demand.”