Plans to double capacity of Goosnargh Oliverson’s Church of England Primary school despite road concerns

Plans to double the number of pupils at a Preston primary school are to go ahead – in spite of concerns the move poses a road safety risk.

A public consultation was launched in September into the proposed expansion of Goosnargh Oliverson’s Church of England Primary.

From next September, the annual reception year intake at the Goosnargh Lane facility is set to increase from 30 to 60 children – leading to the school’s capacity gradually rising from 210 to 420 pupils over the following seven years.

However, locals have warned that the growth will intensify existing traffic problems at drop-off and pick-up times – and a petition has been set up calling for the proposal to be abandoned.

Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has nevertheless approved the change, but the authority has pledged to consider what “mitigations” might be necessary in view of the consultation outcome. The decision has led a local councillor to brand that process a “pointless tick-box exercise”.

Overall, 76 percent of the 128 respondents strongly disagreed with the plans, with an even greater proportion – 84 percent – expressing fears over an increase in the volume of traffic in the vicinity of the school and the resultant impact on road safety.

A meeting of Lancashire County Council’s cabinet was told that two thirds of the responses raised specific concerns about limited parking in the area – even with just the current pupil numbers.

Fifty-eight percent stated that there were already fears about “pupil and pedestrian safety…due to inconsiderate parking and vehicles mounting the pavements to pass through the area” – a situation they claimed would only deteriorate if the expansion went ahead and drew in pupils from a wider area.

The petition – so far signed by 275 people – describes traffic levels around the school during peak times as “staggering”

It adds: “One can only imagine the outrageous increase in vehicular traffic [the expansion] would bring, worsening the situation to untenable levels. The modest size of our village cannot support this proposed growth and it is our children’s safety that must be a priority.”

Concern is also expressed in the petition about the potential loss of the “strong community feeling” engendered by the school if it doubles in size.

Meanwhile, almost a third of those who responded to the consultation suggested the expansion could affect its “ethos and educational standards”.

Addressing the consultation outcome at the cabinet meeting where the proposal was considered, cabinet member for education and skills Jayne Rear said the response had been “mixed”.

She told colleagues that “highways management” issues would be dealt with during “the formal planning process” and that the enlargement would be phased so as not to have an adverse impact on “the quality of education” at the school, which is currently rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted.

County Cllr Rear added that two public events held in the village hall last month – and attended by representatives of the county council, the school and the Diocese of Blackburn – had provided the opportunity to “share the benefits of a larger school, including future sustainability and wider curriculum choices”.

However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands there was anger that the meetings were not attended by highways officials from the county council – in spite of the impact on the roads being the main concern to emerge from the consultation.

Michelle Woodburn, vice-chair of Whittingham Parish Council, condemned the decision to press on with the plans in the face of public opposition.

“The consultation and meetings were a pointless tick-box exercise, as they are clearly just going ahead despite the many major concerns from residents and parents.

“More people will be using cars for children attending the school, as they accept children from outside the parishes.

“A previous headteacher from Oliverson’s said that the school could change who they accept in their school [if they wanted], but they choose not to. So is this all about money?

“Because why would they choose to do this knowing the issues around traffic and knowing the views of the parents and residents who voiced their opinions at the meetings?” Cllr Woodburn asked.

Since 2022, the need for places across both the Goosnargh and Grimsargh, and Longridge school place planning areas has been assessed collectively, because of what the county council says is the “cumulative impact” of additional housing and the “limited scope” to expand any of the existing primary schools in Longridge.

The need is now

The cabinet meeting heard that the expansion of Goosnargh Oliverson’s was necessary even though County Hall also recently approved the building of a brand new primary school on the former Whittingham Hospital site nearby – which could also eventually cater for a total of 420 pupils.

However, that facility will not open until September 2026, while Goosnargh Oliverson’s will expand from the start of the next academic year – initially via the use of temporary accommodation, with permanent buildings added by the following year.

The county council says both developments are necessary to meet the demand for places as a result of high birth rates and new housing sites in the area.

Weight of public opinion

The Department for Education tells local authorities carrying out consultations into school plans that they should not simply take account of the numbers of people expressing a particular view – but should give the greatest weight to responses from those likely to be most affected by the proposal being consulted upon.

The parents of children at schools where changes are proposed are singled out for special consideration.

In the consultation into the expansion of Goosnargh Oliverson’s, 37 percent of those respondents who did not support the proposal were parents or carers of a current pupil, while five percent were parents or carers of likely future pupils.

A further 27 percent of those against the changes were identified as “interested member[s] of the local community”.

Overall, just 12 percent of respondents strongly agreed or tended to agree with the proposal, but only six percent were parents or carers of current or future pupils.

However, 42 percent of those who took part in the consultation stated that there was a need for additional primary school places in the Goosnargh, Grimsargh and Longridge areas, compared to 34 percent who disagreed.

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