The relocation of a secondary school has been given the go-ahead.

St John Fisher RC Comprehensive will move to the playing fields off City Way, Rochester, after councillors agreed plans for pupils to move out of two outdated facilities.

Students currently learn at two sites in Maidstone Road and Ordnance Street in Chatham which developers say are costly to maintain due to their age.

During a virtual meeting of Medway Council's planning committee yesterday (Wednesday), ward councillors said whilst they approved the relocation of the school, they were worried about the impact the development would have on residents living in City Way, Elmhurst Gardens and Boundary Road.

Cllr Vince Maple (Lab), who represents Chatham, recommended residents have regular meetings with school representatives during the build and after the work has been completed, which was accepted by members of the committee.

Those overseeing the project, Wates Construction Ltd, will also have to pay £15,000 towards highway improvements.

The original plans would have seen the school building located on the west of the playing field but concerns raised by Historic England said this would negatively impact on views of neighbouring Fort Pitt.

Sports England also objected due to the loss of the playing fields.

Committee chairman Cllr Diane Chambers (Con), said: "I think the fact is that this is not the location that the school themselves want to be in, it’s probably not the location that we would want the school to be in, but the school is being indicated in this location because of the views of Historic England."

She summarised the difficult position the council had found themselves in due to Historic England and Sports England's opposition and she said it was her opinion that deferring the application would only add to the dilemma.

She said: "So the problem we are faced with is that we have two sites which the provision is not really suitable for children any longer and therefore the need is for a new school.

"So we either have a new school, as I see it, on this location, or we don’t have a school at all, and that’s the option that we really have to balance this evening.

"I think it goes without saying this is a very sensitive application, it's a very sensitive site and I think we would all hope that there can be exchanges between residents, the developers, and the school officers to try to mitigate as much as possible particularly during the build phase."

Peter Morris, a resident of Elmhurst Gardens, criticised the decision, saying: "That was just the most bizarre thing, to vote for something they agree that neither the school nor themselves want.

"They've let a civil servant in London dictate a decision on heritage terms alone, which they acknowledge creates the worst possible solution for taxpayers' money, the environment, local residents, and most importantly for the schoolchildren themselves for whom the shortest route to the station is now the most dangerous.

"The ironic thing is this decision is possibly worse for heritage views too, across Chatham, but no one feels it's their role to question how Historic England made their decision without visiting or assessing all the relevant views across Chatham - the application shows they "estimated" these views."

The new school will have enough space to meet the needs of 900 pupils and 285 sixth formers; plans include sports pitches - including an all-weather pitch - as well as a chapel and drama studio.

The school currently has around 880 pupils.

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