Rossmore eyesore to be turned into learning centre (From Bournemouth Echo)

Rossmore eyesore to be turned into learning centre

7:10pm Tuesday 7th July 2009 in

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Plans to replace a Poole eyesore with a centre for youngsters excluded from school are set to be approved – despite a scathing condemnation from a planning officer whose council is proposing it.

The “unacceptable” scheme to replace derelict Rossmore Library is being recommended for approval subject to a redesign.

The two-storey library, at the bottom of a dip in Herbert Avenue, has been decaying since 2004 when it was last used to loan out books.

Plans to build a three-storey Learning Support Centre, for youngsters excluded from school, are due to go before Borough of Poole’s planning committee on Thursday.

However the report says the scheme, proposed by the borough’s property services department, “would fail to meet all of the criteria for good design”.

The unusual recommendation is for head of planning Stephen Thorne to approve amended plans.

Warren Lever of the borough’s environment team said the £2.5 million scheme “fails to respond positively to the site, context and opportunities.

“It fails to present a cohesive and well designed building and fails to respond to the 10 criteria set out by CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) for good school design.

“Well designed buildings do not cost more, they just require the appropriate consideration of design issue at the earliest stage,” he said in a four-page critique of the plans.

“As an authority running through a major Building Schools for the Future programme, here is an opportunity to set a high benchmark. Unfortunately this proposal is not of sufficient design quality both in its relation to context and lacking architectural inspiration,” he said.

However in their submission, Boon Brown Architects said the design, which would house 36 pupils aged 11-16, was influenced by gradient changes, existing sewage pipes and power cables.

“The configuration of the proposed building and its location within the site are a direct response to the substantial constraints imposed on the site,” the architects said.

The applicant is also being asked to create a better frontage, improve the boundaries and landscaping, provide drainage for paved areas and safe and sheltered cycle parking.