MAJOR redevelopment plans for The Royal Junior School in Hindhead were given the green light last week after borough councillors went against the recommendations of planning officers. Members of the borough council's development management committee, last Wednesday, threw their support behind the scheme. The school claims it has been forced into redeveloping its Portsmouth Road site after losing acres of land as part of the multi-million pound A3 Hindhead tunnel project. The school's application includes new entrance gates, a caretaker's house, a new chapel, construction of sports grounds, tennis courts, changing rooms and internal roads following the demolition of existing buildings by the A3 tunnel construction. As part of the proposals the access to the school will be moved to Hazelgrove, leading off a new roundabout which will link the old and new sections of the A3. The proposals will also allow the construction of a new lacrosse pitch and a series of terraces for seating. Other changes to the school site will be a new pavilion providing changing rooms for home and away sports teams, the construction of two tennis courts and a new car park with 50 spaces. At the committee meeting Mark Brittain, of High Pitfold Lane, Hindhead, representing the objectors, said he understood the school needing to replace facilities lost as a result of the A3 Hindhead scheme. Mr Brittain said the proposed playing field would be over twice the size of the existing facility and there would be two tennis courts replacing the existing single court. He went on to say: "Without prior detailed knowledge of the site it is impossible to determine the full extent and implications of this development." He said the proposals would not conserve or enhance the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and believed it went against a number of planning directives. He also warned residents could suffer from greater noise and light pollution and traffic to the school could increase. Anthony Day, bursar at The Royal School, explained five and a half acres of school land had been taken in a compulsory purchase order by the Highways Authority for the Hindhead tunnel project. Mr Day said the plans were about "ensuring the school is meeting the needs of our pupils for many years to come." He said the school had considered alternative positions for facilities on the site but felt this would only lead to the buildings being more visible and a greater loss of trees. He assured committee members the school would work with Waverley Borough Council to carry out a major replanting programme to replace the trees and shrubs lost by the work. Haslemere borough councillor Carole King told the meeting The Royal School had been a "casualty of the A3 Hindhead scheme" which had resulted in a loss of facilities "which all have to be moved within their remaining land." She said the plans would not result in an overall loss of trees and pointed out thousands of trees had already been removed as part of construction work for the tunnel. Hindhead borough councillor Peter Isherwood said the school had originally objected to the A3 scheme but then withdrawn its protests before a public inquiry into the project. Mr Isherwood said he was not aware of the school having a license to allow any other groups or organisations to use the site out of school hours. He said he could not see a problem with the application other than a "phobia" of cutting down trees and again highlighted the number of trees already lost during the construction of the A3 tunnel. Committee members voted to go against the recommendations of Waverley planning officers and grant permission for the application. The committee felt there were special circumstances to approve the scheme and said the school needed to redevelop and remain viable and would replant trees on the site. After the meeting Lynne Taylor-Gooby, headteacher at The Royal School, made the following statement: "Everyone at The Royal School is delighted that the Waverley planning committee has approved our plans for redevelopment of the school. "We were pleased to be able to allay the fears of local residents who were labouring under a number of misapprehensions about our plans. "Having lost five and a half acres of woodland, we are keener than anyone to undertake our planting programme, which will restore the beauty and privacy of our grounds. "The repositioning of the sports field, changing facilities and chapel is a consequence of the repositioning of the road by the highways authority."
