New primary school design agreed, with safety and highway issues highlighted

Melksham’s new primary school can advance following the approval of its design plans, despite concerns raised about highway safety and safe walking routes to school. This £8 million school will be the county’s first carbon-neutral school and will also feature a nursery and facilities for Special Educational Needs (SEN).

During the planning stage, Melksham Without Parish Council had raised concerns about road safety and safe travel routes for pupils. These concerns were raised again by councillors at a meeting of Wiltshire Council’s Western Area Planning Committee, held earlier this month to consider the appearance, design, scale, layout and landscape elements of the school, which will be situated by the Pathfinder Way housing development in Bowerhill.

At the meeting, officers said the scheme had undergone significant revisions, which had led to design solutions to address previous concerns. Melksham Without Parish Councillor Alan Baines spoke about traffic accessing and leaving the school and the impact this could have on traffic building up on Pathfinder Way.

Local councillors had suggested that when leaving the school, there should be a left-turn only junction coming out onto Pathfinder Way. However, at the meeting, officers said the Highways team had concluded that this would not be required or supported in that location. Cllr Nick Holder reiterated concerns raised about the decision to not implement a ‘No Right Turn’ exit restriction. During the debate it was also raised that the completion of the site security boundary fencing should be carried out prior to the school being brought into use. Wiltshire Council, as the applicant, was also asked to maximise and bring forward a safe walking route to the school from Berryfield and Semington Road. Cllr Mike Sankey called for the walking route to be solved before the school was opened.   

The council was also asked to speed up the delivery of footpath connectivity from the school to the wider site northern boundary using Section 106 money secured from the housing developer.

Melksham Councillor Mike Sankey moved that the plans be agreed, with the condition of a designed No Right Turn exit onto Pathfinder Way, and consideration to the further issues which had been discussed during the debate, which was agreed.