Home   Weald   News   Article

Marden Primary School expansion likely despite traffic fears

A village school is set to expand to meet the pressure for extra places from new housing in the area.

The Leigh Academies Trust which runs Marden Primary School wants to add a new single-storey building.

Marden Primary School on Goudhrst Road
Marden Primary School on Goudhrst Road

It would provide four new classrooms, a dining hall, kitchen and a staff room, so the school can become a fully two-form entry - two classes per year group.

The existing hall would be demolished.

It would allow the school to expand from the current 292 pupils to 397.

Staffing numbers would also increase from 39 to 45, and to cater for them, the trust is planning to add an extra 11 new staff parking spaces.

The chosen site, to the rear of the existing school buildings in Goudhurst Road, falls partly outside the “limits to built development” of Marden village, where development would usually not be allowed.

It would also use some of the school playing field.

An artist's impression of how the new buildings will fit it at Marden Primary
An artist's impression of how the new buildings will fit it at Marden Primary

However, Maidstone council planning officers agreed with the trust that both of these considerations were outweighed by the need to provide more school spaces.

Officers said: “The site is within the curtilage of the existing primary school, and it is considered almost inevitable that any expansion of the school would need to be outside the settlement boundary.”

Even the presence of great crested newts on the site - a protected species - has failed to stop the expansion.

The trust has reached an agreement with Natural England that it will pay towards the creation of six new ponds for great crested newts off-site in mitigation, and that plan has been accepted by council planners.

Some concern has been expressed locally about the effect of the extra traffic generated by the parents of the additional 105 pupils picking up and dropping off at the school, since there is no off-street parking for parents.

The shape of things to come?
The shape of things to come?

Neighbours have spoken of a lack of capacity on nearby roads to accommodate any additional parking, of parents’ cars already obstructing driveways and being parked on pavements, and of cars parking in the no-stopping zone.

In addition, the trustees of the Marden Memorial Hall said they are fed up with parents parking in their spaces and blocking out the hall’s users, and said they were “actively looking at ways to stop unauthorised parking”.

Their view was supported by Marden Pre-School, which said: “We use the Memorial Hall and our customers often cannot use the car park to drop-off their children (because of school parking).”

However, planning officers have accepted a survey from the applicants that suggests that half of the families will walk their children to school and they say Kent County Council, the highways authority, has raised no objection.

The existing school is 127 years old
The existing school is 127 years old

The expansion will paid for entirely by Section 106 money and by Community Infrastructure Levies (CIL) garnered by Maidstone council from housing developers which have built in the area.

The planning application also seeks permission for two-storey temporary classrooms - said to be of “poor appearance” - on the school playground, but these are only required to house pupils during the construction phase and once the new building is completed they would be removed.

The planning application will be determined by Maidstone council’s planning committee on Thursday, January 16.

Details can be found on the council’s website under application reference 24/503556.

Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More