New classroom block for Walsall school approved
A special school in the Black Country will be able to increase pupil numbers after proposals to expand were given the green light by planners.
Castle Business and Enterprise College, in Odell Road, Bloxwich, will have the capacity for 30 extra places once a new three-classroom teaching block is built on site.
It currently has 152 children on its roll.
Walsall Council planning officers have granted permission for the new modular building, which will also feature toilets and storage space in it.
Last year, the authority said there was a need for more special school places in Walsall to ensure parents could send their children to nearby schools instead of having to look outside the borough.
Funding of around £1 million for a borough wide extension scheme is coming from the Government’s Basic Needs Fund.
This is the second expansion plan agreed for the school as Castle has already been granted planning permission in 2018 for an extension to the existing building to cater for 30 pupils.
In the application, agents Baily Garner said: “The local authority has reviewed and identified the specific need to develop necessary local and area-wide places to satisfy demand and thereby allow the local authority to meet its statutory duties.
“The construction of the two extensions will enable Castle Business and Enterprise College to provide much needed additional pupil places.
“Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council have approved the basic need expansion at Castle Business and Enterprise College.
“The proposals seeks avoiding negative impact on the surrounding area and on neighbouring properties.
“The application is a carefully considered, high quality scheme tailored to its location and to meet the schools requirements.”
They added that the extension would also have very little impact on traffic and the surrounding roads.
