Plans to rebuild a West Cumbrian secondary school have been revealed.
Cockermouth School’s current buildings are at the end of their useable life and a planning application has been lodged to create new school buildings on the site.
The school’s application said: “The school currently operates from seven buildings of various ages which present significant challenges in terms of functionality, accessibility, energy efficiency and overall suitability for the delivery of modern education.”
Three of its buildings date from 1958 and more were added in the 1960s. The Eco Centre and some modular classrooms were created in 2008.
It wants to demolish the seven buildings and consolidate all teaching provision in a single new building, plus separate sports provision and three pastoral hubs on the site.
If the plan gets the go-ahead, the school, on Castlegate Drive, will remain operational throughout the demolition and subsequent building work.
A feasibility study was carried out by the Department for Education to explore options for the site and it identified the preferred solution of building a new school.
The new buildings would cater for 1,440 students and 135 staff.
It is proposed that the new building would be towards the south-east of the site.
The plans include improved access to the site.
The application added: “Congestion is severe at the front of the school.”
The application also adds that the new school building would improve the school’s presence in the local community by allowing out-of-hours access to key resources, such as sport, sixth form social, performing arts and DT.
The application said a public consultation was held on February 26.
It added: “This gave the public the opportunity to discuss the proposals with the design team, and share their comments and feedback.
“Most residents who attended the event were supportive of the proposals, although a number had queries about parking, drainage and the construction period.”
If the plans get the go-ahead from Cumberland Council, demolition will be carried out in phases.
It is proposed that five small buildings will be demolished first, with temporary accommodation created for the next phase of work, which would see new buildings constructed and an all-weather pitch created.
Then, the new school buildings will be occupied and the existing school buildings demolished.
New landscaping, car parking and sports facilities would then be created to the west of the new buildings in the area previously occupied by the existing school.
