It’s full steam ahead for a new King’s School after the Secretary of State decided against a public inquiry on the plans.
Cheshire East council approved plans to sell three Kings’ sites for housing and build a new school on green belt at Prestbury last month.
Campaigners had hoped there was a last-ditch opportunity for the plans to be quashed when they went to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for final approval.
But campaigners were dismayed this week to learn the minister will not hold an inquiry on the plan, instead leaving it to the council which has already rubber stamped the proposals.
This leaves King’s School free to go ahead with their project, which will transform three major sites in the town.
Dr Simon Hyde, headteacher at Kings School, said in a letter to parents the school will start selling off its sites soon, and told the Express he was ‘delighted’ the plans will go ahead. He said: “The King’s School is delighted to hear that the Secretary of State is satisfied with the decision by Cheshire East to grant permission to allow us to proceed with our new school. The next stage is for Cheshire East to issue the permissions granted in July for development of our Westminster Road site (excluding the historic school buildings on Cumberland Street), our Fence Avenue site and the site for the new school on Alderley Road. We hope that the final stages of the planning process will be concluded in the next few weeks. In the meantime, the school and our advisors are focussing on completing our proposals with our external contractors and organising project funding.”
The new school will be built on farmland at Alderley Road, Prestbury.
There will be up to 300 homes at the school’s girls campus at Fence Avenue - also on green belt - and 150 homes at Westminster Road, which forms part of the boys’ Cumberland Street campus.
The school relied on getting approval for the housing schemes to pay for its new school building in Prestbury.
Campaigners said the plans pose a ‘serious risk to the green belt and its wildlife’.
Residents from the Land East of Fence Avenue (LEFA) campaign group posted on their Facebook page when they heard the news, saying: “Disappointing news I’m afraid. The Secretary of State has decided not to call in the three applications. Somebody will be celebrating this evening but sadly it isn’t us.”
