More pupils allowed at The Stable School in Christchurch

The Stable School, which works with children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health needs, submitted a planning application to increase its pupil numbers to 35.

While the school has already been operating at this capacity for more than three years, the planning permission it previously had was for “no more than 25 children at any one time”.

It said it had been operating above capacity to due to high demand for places.

The reason originally given to restrict attendance to 25 students was to “limit disturbance to adjacent residential properties”.

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The Stable School claims it has not received any complaints about drop off and pick up activity and said there is “no evidence to suggest that any disturbance has been caused to residents” as a result of the higher student numbers.

Neighbours’ concerns were instead directed at the long driveway which pupils and parents use to access the school from Dudmoor Farm Road.

The Stable School site (Image: Google Maps)

All three objections which were submitted to the latest planning application were centred around the state of the road, and how the increased capacity of pupils could worsen it.

One said: “The increase in the numbers of pupils will result in a cumulative impact on the road network resulting in road condition that is not suitable for vehicles.”

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Another said: “[The] surface of the lane is in a very poor state and has been for many years. It is not suitable for the current use. Development should not be considered before this access route is structurally sound.”

The third said: “The state of the land has markedly decreased in recent years.”

According to a planning report published on the scheme, The Stable School is said to be “actively looking at proposals to promote a scheme for improvements to the private road”.

Its owners have confirmed that they are happy to pay a “fair and equitable portion of costs” for a scheme of repairs and maintenance to the road in conjunction with other users and landowners.

The application was granted on July 19.