THE green light has been given to a £14.5m eco-friendly school in Basingstoke, that will meet the demand for school places in the area.

Hounsome Fields Primary School has been given the go-ahead and will provide up to 420 pupils between four and 11 years old with eight special needs places in Basingstoke.

Hampshire County Council's regulatory committee on Wednesday, September 13 gave planning permission for the school to be built, which intends to open in September 2025, admitting up to 30 children in Year R.

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The school will be located on land within the 750-home Hounsome Fields development on A30 Winchester Road, opposite the golf course development where 1,000 homes are being built.

However, concerns over pupils’ safety were raised due to the school’s proximity on the west and east to the A30 Winchester Road.

Planning officers indicated at the meeting that the county council's highways team were informed about the concerns and said that possible changes on the speed limit could be looked at since,  at the moment, the limit is 50mph, which, Cllr Keith House said at the meeting is a 'high-risk velocity for children'.

To mitigate the risk and improve children’s safety, a controlled crossing point to the A30 will be implemented by the Basingstoke Golf Course to provide a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists to access the primary school and local centre facilities.

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Also, four pedestrian access points are proposed for the site’s western, northern and southern parts.

County council papers said: “The two pedestrian access points to the west link to the spine road and network of footpaths serving the Hounsome Fields housing parcels to the west and south. The single pedestrian access point to the north links to the existing Hounsome Fields housing and Kennel Farm. To the south-eastern corner of the site, a single pedestrian access point is planned to link to the five proposed A30 crossing and Basingstoke Golf Course development. One additional access point is provided to the site’s southwest corner for ground maintenance access.”

A 2.8 metre-high acoustic fence is also planned for the boundary with the A30 and along the “mature” tree belt, which will help reduce the impact of traffic noise on active indoor and outdoor teaching areas to the ground floor.

Hounsome Fields Primary School has been designed to allow the expansion of up to 630 pupil places, but this will be subject to future demand and capital funding.

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The new school will be a Climate Change Primary School Pilot project and has been assessed against the county council’s climate change targets of being carbon neutral by 2050, designed to be resilient to overheating and flooding.

An academy trust has yet to be appointed to manage the school. Once completed, the council anticipates that 47 staff members will be employed, including 19 teachers.

The application states that the proposed building includes 14 classrooms, a music and drama studio, three group rooms, a library, informal play areas, a staff car park with 40 bays, and two playing fields, amongst other facilities.

Cllr Edward Heron, the council’s cabinet lead member for children’s services, said: “This is a significant step for our education buildings programme, leading the way in creating education buildings for the future which serve the needs of Hampshire’s children, and support and protect the environment.”

It is anticipated that the school will be ready to open in September 2025. The new school will be run by an academy, to be appointed through a competitive process by the Department for Education.