New £20 million school gets green light
THE new £20 million St Julie's Catholic
High School in Liverpool has been given planning permission. The redevelopment
of the Woolton School; 90% of which will be on its existing footprint; will
create a new fit for purpose building for up to 1,100 pupils.
The 3 and 4 storey building replaces a worn out and tired 1960's building which
is no longer fit for modern teaching methods and needs significant repairs and
maintenance.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said:- "The new St Julie's Catholic High
School is much needed because the existing building is long past its sell by
date.
We have been able to come up with a plan which delivers a new school largely on
the existing site, minimising disruption to pupils and local residents.
This scheme is a pragmatic and sensible solution that 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."
The buildings have been sympathetically
designed in line with the Woolton Village Conservation Area, and will be further
away from the Grade 1 listed Woolton Hall than the existing school.
The new complex will also include multi use games area and sports hall which
will be available for use by the local community, and will give the school more
outside play space than it currently has.
Head teacher of St Julie's, Tim Alderman, said:- "We are delighted that St
Julie's, first founded in Liverpool when Sisters of Notre Dame came here in
1851, will be secured as part of Woolton Village for many years to come in state
of the art, beautiful buildings and surroundings. It will be a fabulous
environment for children to grow and learn in."
Under the plans, the 3 acre neighbouring private woodland will be opened up to
the local community for the 1st time; creating 5 times more public space than
is being lost due to the change in the school's footprint.
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 will
be funded as part of the school development as a community-led project.
The project is part of the Liverpool Schools Investment Programme, which will
see at least 12 new schools built. It was devised as a rescue package following
the scrapping of Wave 6 of Liverpool's Building Schools for the Future (BSF)
project in 2010, and is one of the Mayor's key pledges.
The school is expected to be completed in the academic year 2016 to 2017.
