CHILDREN at St Lawrence Church of England Primary School have added their voices to the debate over what some perceive as controversial plans for a much-needed school hall. Currently the youngsters have no on-site provision for large group activities. They have to walk to the church hall for collective worship and PE and they eat lunch in their classrooms. Their need, they believe, is pressing but, having received strong opposition from some quarters to the plan, staff and pupils have been debating the subject to try to develop an informed and balanced view on the matter. They understand the concerns of some over the appearance of the site and the need to extend their hard play area to make up for land given over to new build, but they have tried to adapt their development to fit in with the surrounding conservation area while providing the facilities they require. The proposal, by Hampshire County Council, is for the construction of a school hall with kitchen facilities in the existing playground area abutting Church Street. Designed by local architects, Format Milton, the building would be of red brick with a slate roof, similar in style to the adjoining 160- year-old schoolhouse. It would, however, result in the loss of a large section of play area and of a temporary classroom building. According to head teacher Nigel Utton, great care has been taken by the architects to reflect the style of the existing school building, while blending in modern features such as full- length windows on the playground side to introduce light into the hall. And the roof height has been lowered to enable people in the cottages behind to retain their view of the church. At a cost of well more than half a million pounds the school needs "to get it right", but Mr Utton is concerned over the delays which, he said, have already increased the price by 10 per cent. "We had hoped work would be started by December this year but at the moment we don't yet have planning permission," he said. The issue is further complicated because although the Church still owns the land, the churchyard was closed to burials in the 1860s and is now maintained by Alton Town Council as public open space. At present, despite consent from the Church, plans to extend the play area yet further into the churchyard have been shelved due to local opposition against the loss of open space and of yet more of what is an historic Civil War battle site, which provides the setting for St Lawrence Church, itself a key building protected by listed status. The current plan does, however, propose the extension of the hard play area into the wedge of grassed churchyard already embraced within the school campus. This would require the necessary removal of a low brick wall, with railings above, which is thought to form part of an historic boundary wall to the churchyard. While it may be possible to re-use the bricks, the hard play extension is felt to be a necessary requirement for the success of the project since the children are only allowed on the grass when it is dry. Speaking to The Herald about their own thoughts on the matter, children from year six were convinced of the school's need for a hall and that the development would not in any way detract from the conservation area. Although as top juniors they will not benefit from the new hall, they were still keen to see it built. At present, the children said, they had to walk to the Church hall or to Amery Hill School for games and PE, which meant them getting cold and wet in bad weather and exposed them to dangers when crossing the road. They also had to eat their lunch in the classroom and, if it was raining, stayed there for "wet play" which meant that some days they didn't leave the classroom at all. They had worked out that they were only able to use the playground for three per cent of the year and, because the school is now running at maximum strength, that the noise level during playtime would not change. One youngster pointed out that children needed space in which to run around and that the government had decreed they should have at least two hours' exercise a week. Having pored over the plans, they were particularly impressed by the appearance of the proposed building which, they considered, was designed "to look old and in keeping on the outside but would be modern inside, so it would still be part of the school". In seeking to allay fears that the new development would enable the school to expand further, Nigel Utton confirmed that there were currently 180 children on the roll and that the school was operating to capacity. That, he confirmed, would not change.
