School pressing ahead with bid to sell playing fields to developer

A SCHOOL is pressing ahead with plans to sell part of its playing fields to a developer to fund more all-weather sports facilities.

Burgate School and Sixth Form in Fordingbridge will apply for permission from the Department for Education to dispose of a 1.5-acre plot in the north-east corner of the site.

Having consulted on its plans over six weeks, the board of trustees which runs the academy said only four objections had been made out of 13 responses.

The school said in a statement: “Ultimately the board, while sympathetic to the views expressed in the consultation responses that related to concerns over the environment, agreed the first responsibility was to the school and the students’ best interests.”

If approved, the land is set to be sold to Metis Homes, which approached the school and is currently drawing up a scheme for more than 70 homes to the north of the campus.

The school, which gained its independence from Hampshire County Council by becoming an academy in 2011, has 21 acres of open space – which trustees said was more than officially required for a school of its size.

The site to be sold is currently off limits to students having been a wildlife area which is now unused.

Any proceeds must by law be spent on improving sports facilities. But as part of the deal the school has made it a condition that its access off the A338 be improved, plus gaining a dedicated bus waiting zone.

The plot would join the larger acquisition by Metis Homes of neighbouring Burgate Acres, which includes a large house and grounds of about 4.5 acres, plus 3.5 acres of farmland to the north.

A Metis Homes spokesperson said after the deals were done last year: “The whole area to the north of Fordingbridge, including these two land parcels, sits in a strategic site for delivering much-needed housing for the area.

“Together with other landowners we hope to deliver around 70-80 new homes as part of the overall allocation.”

As reported in the A&T, New Forest District Council’s draft Local Plan, which sets out development policies for 10,500 homes outside the national park by 2036, has allocated the site in a larger area for 350 homes. About 800 have been earmarked near Fordingbridge on three sites.

Burgate School and Sixth Form must now await a decision from the Department for Education before it can go ahead with the sale.