Go-ahead for major extension of Athlone school

It's hoped that work on a major two-storey extension to St Mary's Primary School in Athlone will get underway during the current school year, after the project was given the go-ahead by Westmeath County Council on Monday.

The school welcomed the award of planning approval this week, describing it as "a momentous milestone" which would allow its pupils access a high-quality education in a "fit-for-purpose" building.

The project involves the development of a standalone two-storey classroom building, with a gross floor area of 2,093 square metres, which would include 11 additional mainstream classrooms.

It would also incorporate a dedicated Special Educational Needs (SEN) unit with two safe-base classrooms and a multi-sensory room, a new school office, nine special education tuition rooms, one home school liaison room, staff facilities, and ancillary accommodation.

One of the planning documents, in June of this year, stated that the school was then accommodating 599 pupils and 69 staff, and that this extension was expected to see its capacity increase to 742 pupils and 124 staff.

A new vehicle and pedestrian entrance from John Paul Park, at the Fairgreen, road and junction upgrades at John Paul Park, are also planned.

One of the ten conditions attached to the grant of planning approval also stipulated that "a high-quality roofed walkway" should be installed in order to "link the proposed new extension with the existing school structure".

A further condition requires the school to bring in "a qualified archaeologist" to carry out ground testing works "within the green area to the rear of the existing school", with no sub-surface work permitted without the archaeologist's consent.

During the planning process an objection was submitted to the council on behalf of a group of residents of the neigbouring John Paul Park.

In their objection, the residents said they welcomed the "much-needed expansion" of the school, but pointed out that it was being developed "directly to the rear of our residential cul-de-sac" and that they had "serious concerns regarding the current proposed access route and the resulting impact on our community".

The planning conditions issued by the council stated that "all unauthorised car parking located within hard standing play areas to the front of the existing school, and all modular structures within the school grounds" had to be removed within a month of the new extension being occupied.

On behalf of St Mary's Primary School, its principal Ailish McManus issued a statement to the Westmeath Independent this week welcoming the grant of planning approval.

"The Board of Management are delighted to receive the good news that planning permission is granted with some conditions," the school's statement read.

"This is a momentous milestone and we very much look forward to the next stage as we move forward to the actual build and improving our educational environment where our students will access high quality education in a fit-for-purpose building.

"The Board of Management and the project managers would expect that the construction of the new build would start during the course of this school year.

"We would like to thank the design team at KSN, the Department of Education officials in the building unit and Deputy Robert Troy for all of their help and continued support of this project."

Westmeath TD and Minister of State Robert Troy said the award of planning permission was "very positive news" for the local area.

He said the school authorities had met with previous Education Minister Norma Foley in relation to the development.

"St Mary's was prioritised for a substantial investment, and we were then waiting for the planning approval to come through. Now that it's in place, I would hope that the project can proceed to construction without further delay," said Minister of State Troy.