New school plan in Birkenhead Park ruled out

Jun 23 2010 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

PROPOSALS to build a new primary school in Wirral’s historic Birkenhead Park have been ruled out after English Heritage objected.

The authority was considering plans to shut Cole Street Primary School with the nearby Cathcart Street Primary School retained.

Under the new arrangement all former Cole Street Primary pupils would be guaranteed a place at Cathcart Street.

But the education department had also been asked to look at options for a new school between the two sites.

In a report to be presented to the ruling cabinet tomorrow (Thursday), a site in Birkenhead Park, which lies between the two schools, is suggested as the only possible option in the otherwise built-up area.

The park – opened in 1847 and declared a Grade 1 listed landscape in 1995 – was recently subject to an £11.5m renovation.

According to the report, initial discussions between the council and Dr Hilary Taylor, a national expert on the park’s designer Joseph Paxton and the park, and who was also the consultant on the recent renovation, indicated proposals for a primary school on land on the edge of the park “could be viable”.

However, in his report to the ruling cabinet, director of children’s services, Howard Cooper, said officers had later met with representatives of English Heritage.

He said: “Their view, while sympathetic to the council’s school re-organisation issues, is that the limited benefits of such a scheme were significantly outweighed by negative impacts on the park and its historic environment.”

In a letter to the council English Heritage said: “We consider that the proposed scale of development combined with the necessary enclosure by security fencing will potentially have an unacceptably damaging effect on the significance of the historic asset.”

Mr Cooper added: “A new school project on the Birkenhead Park site would be highly unlikely to receive English Heritage approval and planning permission, and therefore it is not recommended to continue.”

The cabinet will now be asked to approve plans to shut Cole Street School in August 2011 and consider options for the Cathcart Street site at a future meeting.