New primary school approved for Waterlooville on the Berewood estate despite concerns over a gas boiler

The primary school on the housing estate, commonly known as Berewood, will cater for 315 children, with eight Special Educational Needs resource provisions. In comes after Winchester City Council and Havant Borough Council granted the Outline Planning permission in 2012 to develop the West of Waterlooville Major Development Area (MDA) since the site lies partly in both councils. This led to the creation of the Parish of Newlands.

Along with 2,550 new homes, mixed-use and amenity space, the application identified that two schools must be built in the coming years, the first in the north of the site was Berewood Primary School, completed by Hampshire County Council in 2014. Now, the County Council has given the green light to construct the second one in the south on land east of Newlands Lane. It will be named once the Academy Trust is appointed, though Newlands Parish Council has requested that it be called Newlands Primary School.

However the granting of planning permission came despite concerns raised at the Hampshire County Council regulatory committee (October 18 about installing gas boilers at the school.

The report indicates that Gas Boilers with Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions of less than 24 mg/kWh will be installed at the school, but the proposal was not welcomed by members who said that gas boilers were not secure for a school and are against Hampshire 2050 plans for zero carbon emissions.

Councillor Mark Cooper said, “At this stage, gas heating is not a good idea. How will we achieve 2050 sustainability if we fit gas boilers into a school in 2024? I would hope that we [Hampshire County Council] have much higher standards for green investment issues with our buildings. I’m disappointed that we, as an authority, are not meeting high standards, and 2050 is not that far away.”

Councillor Rod Cooper said, “We as a county shouldn’t be putting gas boilers and should be doing our best to reduce carbon emissions. For me, this gas boiler proposal is inefficient. It is incomprehensible.”

For its part, HCC’s officers made it clear that, at the moment, gas boilers are the only alternative for the school since the budget provided through the developer contributions is “limited”.

“The school is being designed to accommodate retrofitting of ground or air source heat pumps in the future, but currently, the infrastructure required for an all-electric school would detrimentally impact the school’s running cost.

“Gas boiler is the most efficient approach at this stage, but we have designed the school to use a minimum amount of energy gas. In terms of running costs, we need to consider that.

They added that a BREEAM pre-assessment showed that the building will meet an “outstanding rating” regarding energy performance in line with Winchester City Council’s local plan policies.

The school will have eleven classes, three group rooms, a specialist practical classroom, 1 to 1 facilities, a break-out space, a kitchen and accessible toilets and a hygiene room. A total of two powered two-wheelers, and thirty-one car parking spaces will be required, of which two of these parking spaces will be accessible bays. A public bus route is also proposed, with bus stops expected in reasonable proximity to the school site.