Nursery school annex approved
A nursery school annex has been approved by planners, despite parish councillors’ objection that trees planted to honour a former colleague and “pillar of the community” have been removed to make way for it.
Telford and Wrekin Council applied to place the wooden building, where special needs assessments will be carried out, on the grounds at Wrockwardine Wood Infant School and Nursery.
Wrockwardine Wood and Trench Parish Council and objected, saying trees planted after the death of councillor and deputy headmaster Norman Pickering in 2008 were taken “without any public consultation” before members could meet to discuss the proposal.
In an approval notice, published on Monday, August 24, planning officers say the borough council has contacted the parish to discuss replacing the felled trees and providing a plaque.
A design statement, submitted by Telford and Wrekin Council along with the application, said the 145-square-metre building would be placed to the northeast of the Church Road school in an area “relatively unused by the children”.
The statement added: “The proposed additional building has been designed to meet the borough’s increased requirements for special needs teaching spaces, be sympathetic to the school’s ‘eco-school’ status and correspond with the scale of the existing buildings.
“The building will provide a new nursery to assess the needs of young special needs residents.”
Wrockwardine Wood and Trench Parish Council’s consultation response said: “In the planning application it is stated that no trees would be involved, but in fact standard trees, which were a memorial to a respected councillor and pillar of the community, have already been removed without any public consultation.”
Cllr Pickering, who died in 2008, was deputy head at the John Hunt School in Trench, served on Shropshire County Council and was an inaugural member of Wrockwardine Wood and Trench Parish Council. His wife, Joan Pickering, died six years later.
The parish council, whose offices are also situated on the infant school site, added the proposal would “destroy the green space in the centre of the parish and completely change the street scene” and “result in more traffic on an already congested road”.
It added that the current car park is “inadequate”, and the proposed seven new spaces would not be enough.
The decision notice, published by Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning department announcing that the plans had been approved, said an “up-to-date school travel plan” would be required “to mitigate any potential detriment” to the road network.
The council’s highways department had no objection to the proposal, provided this was carried out.
It added: “Objections were also raised to the loss of trees on site that were planted in memory of a local councillor.
“The applicant has engaged in discussions with the parish council to provide further information on the proposals and to discuss options for replacing the felled trees and to provide a memorial plaque.”
Details of the tree replacement scheme would be included in planning conditions, and the parish council did not submit a further response during the second consultation round, it added.
