Brethren school to move from Sarn village near Newtown

Plymouth Brethren Christian Church has been granted planning permission by Shropshire Council to change the use of Henlle Park Golf Club in Gobowen just outside Oswestry into a school.

The plans would see the school move from its current site at Sarn, near Newtown in Powys, until applicant The Cambrian Education Trust explained was now too small for purpose.

Henlle Golf Course near Oswestry. (Image: Google.)

The 6.7-hectare site near Oswestry would include converting the existing clubhouse and maintenance building into the school and sports buildings respectively, as well as a car park and sports pitch which is currently part of the golf course.

The applicant shared that the school is part of the OneSchool Global which network  which “educates over 9,000 students, in over 125 campuses, across 20 countries, making it one of the world’s largest independent schools”.

MORE NEWS:

• Police launch investigation after driver failed to stop after Powys crash
• Residents brace for 18 month traffic disruption on A470 and A458
• Motorcyclist, 20, killed in Powys border crash

The application stated that the school needed to increase capacity because the current buildings in the Powys village “are poorly insulated and difficult to maintain”.

“Capacity has been increased over the years with the addition of modular buildings which cannot be modified internally to suit the OneSchool Global pedagogy," the application explained.

“Circulation and access between buildings is poor, the site has very limited parking and is not on any public transport routes. The site is now at absolute capacity.

“Any field based recreational activity takes place on the publicly owned village playing field or tennis courts. These facilities are public and therefore create a safeguarding issue (students have to share the field with anyone else who choses to use it that day).”

The move would allow the school to increase their capacity from 18 primary pupils to potentially around 25 and their secondary students from 38 to around 50.

Get in touch

Share your views on this story by sending a letter to the editor. To get in touch email news@countytimes.co.uk, or fill in the form on this section of our website.

The school also plans to increase the number of staff from eight teachers to around 10, and their five teaching assistants to around seven.

The pupil age range at the school would be between seven and 17 years old, and the opening hours would be 8.45am to 3pm on weekdays.

The application added that staff would arrive early at around 7.30am to open up the building and prepare for the school day ahead and leave the building at around 4pm with cleaning staff leaving at 5.30pm.