THE first images were released today of the proposed new St Julie’s School in Woolton, just days before members of the family who gave the land for the people head to Liverpool.
Thousands of people have signed a petition protesting at the loss of any part of Woolton Woods for the new school, even though the council insists extra land will be made public to compensate for the loss.
The council says the new St Julie’s Catholic High School will benefit around 1,000 children and their families in Woolton.
The £20m plan, it adds, will create a fit-for-purpose building as well as opening up most of a privately owned woodland behind the school. It says this will more than compensate for the loss of less than five percent of a neighbouring field.
The three and four storey building replaces a worn out and tired 1960s design which is no longer suitable for modern teaching methods and needs significant repairs and maintenance, the council contends.
But according to Woolton resident and award-winning architect Sue Carmichael the scheme will ruin a major green space in Liverpool.
“Architects in this country and around the world manage to create solutions on a daily basis to overcome building and design problems,” she told Liverpool Confidential. “At St Julie’s there is ample space to plan and build a new school without taking an inch from Woolton Woods.
“The extra land they are offering in return does not in any way compensate for what we will lose. Woolton, as a village, existed 200 years before Liverpool and has become an international destination in its own right.
“I know the architects who have drawn up the project and I know they are capable, if they are allowed to, of building within the present site.”
She added: “Today I went to do some measuring on the proposed site and it is clear it will have a profound impact on the village main street. What makes this so sad is it is absolutely unnecessary.”
Members of the family of war hero Col. Sir James Reynolds will visit Woolton Woods this weekend to unveil a plaque to mark his birth in the village 150 years ago. He donated the land for the benefit of the people around the end of World War One.
The current school
The council says the new school buildings are being sympathetically designed in line with the Woolton Village Conservation Area, and will be further away from the Grade I listed Woolton Hall than the existing school.
Cllr Jane Corbett, Cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This scheme will deliver a fantastic new school for the area, benefiting hundreds of families who live in and around Woolton, as well as the wider community.
“It is absolutely vital that the area gets a new school and we have been able to come up with a plan which delivers a new school largely on the existing site.
“There is also an exciting opportunity here to develop a new piece of public space which can be used by the whole community, and deliver an increase in the amount of land available for use by local people.”
Head teacher of St Julie’s, Tim Alderman, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the plans for our new school, which will enable current and future generations of students in this community to benefit from fantastic educational facilities.
“I hope the community will continue to use our range of facilities out of school hours too, as well as enjoy the woodland areas that the Trustees have said could form part of this proposal.”
Ideas for the new public space include a children’s play area, woodland trail, cycle routes, trim trail and woodland management if deemed appropriate. It would be funded as part of the school development as a community-led project.
The planning application is expected to be considered in April 2015 and if approved the school is expected to be completed in autumn 2016.
