Blackpool high school in bid to expand

A Blackpool high school is seeking to expand its classroom space in order to cope with increased pupil numbers.

Plans have been submitted to the council seeking permission to build two new classrooms at St Mary's Catholic Academy on St Walburga's Road in the town, which has more than 1,200 pupils attending lessons.

If it gets the go-ahead, the development would see building on a rear courtyard which is currently partly used as a playground.

A design brief accompanying the application says: "Currently, classrooms need to be swapped around to accommodate different lessons.

"The school and local authorities have determined that two new classrooms are required to meet both the growing number of pupils and the limitations on classroom space. The courtyard area is relatively new as it was constructed in 2010."

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The single-storey classrooms would be identical in size and built within the existing footprint of the main school buildings. They would not be visible from outside the school premises and would be built using red brick to match the existing buildings.

It is now 10 years since the school, which is part of the Blessed Edward Bamber Catholic Multi Academy Trust, had a £22.8m injection of cash which saw extensive new facilities provided in 2014. It was rated 'good' in its latest inspection by Ofsted.

The application will now go before town hall planners at a future date for consideration. It can be viewed by searching reference 24/0147 on the Blackpool Council planning website.