Private school’s second bid to build on tennis courts is refused

CREDIT: This story was first seen in the Bournemouth Echo

A Bournemouth school has had its second application to build homes on its old tennis courts rejected, the Bournemouth Echo reports.

In February the Talbot Heath School Trust Limited submitted an application to build three houses on the land adjacent to Glenferness Avenue, the courts being used only as an “overflow practice or knock up area”.

However Bournemouth council’s planning officers have listed a range of criticisms of the proposal, chiefly, that the “uncharacteristic small scale of buildings and plots proposed” and the “inappropriate design and layout” render it “out of keeping with and detrimental to the character and appearance of the designated Meyrick Park and Talbot Woods Conservation area”.

In its application, the trust for the private girls’ school states that the courts “do not meet the Lawn Tennis Association’s dimensions required for competitive tennis and are not fully functional”.

“They have insufficient run off at either end of the courts which is a substantial deficiency,” the application states.

“As a direct result of this deficiency, replacement tennis courts were constructed on the opposite side of the field along Rothesay Road.”

The trust says it ‘cannot justify’ the continued cost of maintaining the courts, and states that the redevelopment it has proposed will ‘assist in delivering much-needed enhancement of the school’s sporting facilities’.

In particular, the school is planning new 25m indoor swimming pool to cope with a ‘shortage’ of such facilities in Bournemouth and Poole.

“Further consultation with Talbot Heath School confirms the evident interest shown to establish a new swimming academy.

“As such, the proposed enhancements to swimming facilities will successfully meet the ever-growing demand in the borough and farther afield.”

However, the application also ran afoul of Sport England, which urged that the courts be redesigned or repurposed to retain a sporting use.

A report by council planning officer Charles Raven says: “Sport England considers that the proposal may prejudice the use of the playing field for sport, given the close proximity of the proposed housing to the artificial grass pitch.

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“Sport England considers that none of the exceptions policies apply in this case.”

Refusing the scheme under delegated powers, the officers’ report also stated that the scheme, which follows a similar plan for four homes which was rejected last year, could lead to the loss of several mature trees deemed worthy of protection.

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