THREE new schools will be built in Taunton to cope with the town’s growing population.

Somerset County Council has approved a new 420-pupil primary school off Nerrols Drive, just south of a major housing development, at a cost of £7M.

The former St Augustine of Canterbury site off Lyngford Road will also be redeveloped, with a new £9M special educational needs (SEND) secondary school built there for 100 pupils.

A SEND primary school will also be built on what has been dubbed the Hazelbrook campus, but this will be built after the secondary school has been delivered.

Members of the council’s regulation committee met in Taunton on Thursday afternoon (June 14) to discuss the proposals.

Philip Higginbottom, the council’s service manager for planning control, enforcement and compliance, said that a nursery with enough provision for 26 children would be included alongside the school – thought it would not be built until after the first primary intake had been accepted.

The site lies to the east of Nerrols Drive, opposite a largely residential area and south of a major development of 260 houses, being built by Barratt Homes.

A small amount of land has been left vacant between the school and the roundabout leading to Monkton Heathfield, and has been earmarked for commercial premises and office space.

Access from the site will be via Nerrols Drive, with footpaths also leading into the school from both the west and east, and a sports pitch being provided at the northern end of the site.

Mr Higginbottom said: “There are concerns from residents, understandably, about traffic and safety concerns around drop-off and pick-up times.

“Traffic speeds will drop naturally at those times of the day because people will be in the area, particularly young children. We don’t see that as an insurmountable problem, it just has to be managed.”

He added that the school could be opened up for community use in the future, but that this require a separate planning application to ensure that any safeguarding concerns were met.

Project manager Carol Bond said that this school was needed due to “significant demographic growth” in Taunton, with the nearby West Monkton Church of England Primary School expected to be full by September 2019.

She said that this was designed to be “a local school for local people”, with half its pupils to come from the new housing development and the other half living within walking distance. 

Several councillors raised concerns about the amount of parking being provided on site – a total of 33 spaces, including staff provision – and the resulting impact on neighbouring residents.

Councillor Ann Bown said: “You can put as many zigzags outside a school as you like, but when parents are dropping little Dotty off to school and going to work, they will park anywhere.”

Councillor Terry Napper suggested that the road could be widened to create a designated pick-up and drop-off area – something dismissed by Mr Higginbottom as “an inefficient use of land”.

Councillor Simon Coles raised concerns that the school would not be able to expand given the restricted nature of the site.

He said:  “It’s a 420 pupil school – that will not be enough for the long-term development of that area.”

Councillor John Parham, who chairs the committee, said that the council’s officers should “take the issue of pick-up and drop-off a bit more seriously” when designing and delivering new schools in the future.

Mr Higginbottom responded that the school’s proximity to the new development would encourage people to walk or cycle rather than drive.

He said: “If we’re not going to get people walking and cycling to this school, where are we going to achieve it?”

The committee voted unanimously to approve the plans – and then turned its attention to the former St Augustine of Canterbury school site on Lyngford Road.

Planning officer Frances Gully said that the site would be redeveloped in two stages:

Phase one – a SEND secondary school for 100 pupils

Phase two – a SEND primary school for 80 pupils

The secondary school will have a smaller footprint than the St Augustine buildings, which closed in 2010, with a sizeable amount of green space being retained – even when the primary school is built on the former playing fields.

Addressing concerns about parking, Ms Gully said: “I am satisfied that this is a very different school to the previous school on site.”

While the St Augustine school catered for 260 “able-bodied” pupils, some of whom arrived by car, she said that the majority of the new pupils would arrive by minibus – with most of the on-site parking being for staff.

Phil Curd, the council’s service manager for specialist provision and school transport,  confirmed that both sites would be used by Selworthy School.

Once the secondary school site has been built, pupils will transfer there from its existing base on Selworthy Road, just over half a mile away.

The school’s existing base will become primary-only, with the additional primary school designed to provide additional capacity in the years ahead.

Councillor Terry Napper praised the plans, saying: “I don’t like the thought of young people being bussed around the county, and this is surely needed to ensure that people can be educated near their homes.”

Councillor Mike Caswell added: “We have [here] a special school for our special people. I think it’s first class, absolutely what we need, and it shows the way forward.”

The council voted unanimously to approve the Lyngford Road plans.

Construction of the Nerrols Farm school will begin imminently, with the school due to begin accepting pupils by September 2019.