PLANS to demolish a historic former Frampton Cotterell school have been sent back to the drawing board again.
Residents who campaigned against developer LiveWest’s plans for the former Watermore Primary School infant site in Woodend Road, previously known as Brockeridge Infant School, have welcomed the decision to rethink the scheme for a fourth time.
South Gloucestershire Council agreed to sell the site to the housing association to help fund the new Watermore Primary School building in Lower Stone Close, which opened in 2020.
LiveWest’s original plans for the site, approved in 2022, included keeping the Victorian school building and converting it into six flats.
Last year the council announced plans to demolish the original 1846 school building and replacing it with new houses, saying it wasn’t possible to economically develop the site and maximise the amount of affordable housing and keep it at the same time.
The plans were dropped after a huge outcry, with more than 380 people objecting and only four supporting them.
LiveWest and the council came back again in February this year, with revised plans to build up to 21 affordable homes on the site – but they still involved knocking down the school.
But in an email sent in April to the Save Brockeridge community group, which rallied opposition to the scheme, a council officer said the response to February’s consultation “meant that LiveWest and their architects have agreed to review their design”.
The officer said: “LiveWest are hoping to be able to complete their review shortly and will provide details on their revised proposals.
“The council will be in a position to share further communications once this detailed work has completed.
“Any proposed redevelopment of the site would be subject to the normal planning consultation process and viewpoints submitted by residents, the Parish Council and others will be considered at that time.”
The decision was welcomed by the Save Brockeridge Facebook Community Group, which has more than 180 members.
Resident Craig Hennessey, a former Brockeridge County Infants School pupil, said: “The council’s plans showed the Victorian school building being replaced with an unsympathetic apartment block with a facade that poorly replicated the original landmark. The proportions were all wrong.
“I understand the majority of residents do not object to affordable housing on the site, but the February 2026 plans took no design cues from historic buildings in Frampton Cotterell at all.”
Resident and chartered building surveyor Dan Tapscott said: “What was proposed strayed far from the outline planning permission granted alongside the new school.
“It is clear that the structure of the school hall is sufficiently sound to enable many more years of use.
“To demolish a building whilst it is capable of repurposing would be a very unsustainable approach endorsed by the council.”
Resident Joe Collett, who is a senior arboricultural consultant, said removing the mature trees on the site would have been an “irreplaceable loss” to the village.