New Secondary School for Cheltenham

The decision on 14 May by Gloucestershire County Council to grant planning permission for a new secondary school is brilliant news in providing much needed capacity in the secondary school system in Cheltenham.

In saluting the efforts of the Kier-led delivery team to secure the permission, it also highlights the important contribution we’ve made in laying the crucial planning policy foundations for the project.

McLoughlin Planning has been heavily involved in the Cheltenham Borough Local Plan, actively promoting the allocation of site for a school and ensuring there is the appropriately worded planning policy context supporting the allocation of the site.

The Officers Report provides a thorough assessment of the planning policy case from the emerging Local Plan and how considerable weight can be attached to the document, following the publication of the Inspector’s Report confirming the allocation of the school site.

That assessment cites various points advanced by McLoughlin Planning in its Examination in Public submissions and critically, being accepted by the Local Plan Inspector. Given the success of these submissions in securing the allocation of the site in the Local Plan, it provided more weight to the argument that the application should be permitted.

We look forward to watching Kier’s progress in delivering the site, knowing that we played an important part in providing the planning policy foundations for the project.

If you would like to discuss in more detail exactly how we achieved the allocation and how this could be relevant to your projects, please get in touch.

Image: Gloucestershire County Council