Efforts to end row between headteacher and council over school parking spaces
Brentwood Council is looking to engage Essex County Council to resolve safety issues outside a Brentwood primary school following criticism its officers had scuppered a plan to ensure children can walk safely to and from their cars. Parents have backed Iain Gunn, headteacher of St Peter's School in South Weald, after Brentwood Council planning department has been accused of ruining an opportunity to resolve serious road safety concerns outside the primary school at no expense to the taxpayer.
Mr Gunn has reacted angrily to Brentwood Borough Council's stance over plans to provide 89 car parking spaces close by to the school - essentially removing the need for parents and children to wall along the narrow Wigley Bush Lane to their parked cars. Now Brentwood Council has said it wants to resolve the issue by engaging Essex County Council highways.
Will Russell said it has come to my attention that planning officers have indicated they will facilitate meetings to discuss the ongoing parking issues. He said he wanted assurances all members would have an opportunity to participate in those meetings.
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Deputy leader Councillor Dr Tim Barrett said: "I will be at that meeting where we we are looking at ways that we can engage Essex County Council to resolve the parking issues ongoing. Obviously, at the moment, there is no active planning application to be considered, but we are looking at how we can help the communication between the school and the county council to assist with resolving that issue, and we will include ward members in that conversation."
In a letter to parents, Mr Gunn said there had been a solution to the school's parking issues by which a sporting village and clay pigeon club that has been awarded planning consent were going to provide a free car park connected to the school grounds via a new footpath. The school has said the facility would have been fully funded and used by the school for years to come.
Mr Gunn has said that despite the support of local councillors, residents, and highways application was deemed not to be compliant with conditions around the use of the sporting village. He said the council has insisted that the members of the public using the car park should not be allowed to use the sporting village which comes with a condition as a private members club.
Mr Gunn has said an unwillingness to risk a breach of the conditions the council has insisted on surrounding the sporting village has ultimately led to the project's falling. He said in a letter to parents: “The issue was not the car park itself- there was no problem with this. The issue was a minor change that had to be made to the conditions so that parents could use the site. The planner decided that this was not reasonable, so withdrew the application. This has resulted in the car park scheme being withdrawn.
Jonathan Stephenson, Chief Executive of Brentwood Borough Council, said: “In relation to the planning issue, I can confirm that the council has not received a valid planning application for it to consider.
"If the council does receive the necessary planning application, it will, of course, consider it. The council received an application from a neighbouring landowner to vary the conditions on an existing planning application, which proposed a range of changes to their existing planning permission.
"This included an increase in car parking but was only part of it and these were not matters that could be considered as a variation of the conditions. The council did seek independent legal advice on this. The council has advised the applicant’s professional planning agent as well as the headteacher to explain the position and what they needed to do if they wished to progress the proposals and make a planning application."