Plans approved for £4.2m extension to Kettering girls' school

Kettering’s planning committee gave the go-ahead on Tuesday, March 12 for the £4.2m extension at Southfield School which will see pupil numbers rise by 150 within the next five years.

The school in Lewis Road is being extended as part of plans to tackle the secondary school places shortage that is facing Kettering. An £8m extension will also be being built at Kettering Science Academy.

At the meeting, elderly resident Ray Gostlow, who lives at the junction of nearby Martin Road, said the school extension should be refused because of safety concerns for the pupils.

He said: “The children come out of school at 3pm and they are all over the junction. Children everywhere – 100 children running about all over the place. Going backward and forwards to the shop across the road. One teacher comes out to supervise them.

“We are interested in the safety of the children. We are surprised that no-one has been run down.”

The two-storey 1,948 sq metre extension will house 10 classrooms and a lecture theatre. It will be paid for by the county council from money it has received to provide school places.

The school currently has 1,062 pupils in roll and this is expected to increase to 1,228.

The highways authority had sent in a written objection to the proposal because it said the school already causes traffic congestion at drop off and pick up times.

The application was unanimously approved by the planning committee.