Parking concerns as Gosport school looks to expand

Leesland Junior School in Gosport wants to add four classrooms to its site plus a small group room.

But councillors on Gosport’s regulatory board are worried about the increase in traffic caused by extra teachers and parents dropping off and picking up their children.

They did, however, acknowledge that extra school spaces are needed in the town.

The decision on whether to allow the extension will be made by education authority Hampshire County Council with comments from Gosport council taken into consideration.

Councillors spoke of their concerns on how the additional classrooms would affect residents living near the school on Gordon Road.

Labour councillor Dennis Wright said: ‘Although there are parking spaces on the site, it is the residents in the area who suffer day in and day out.

‘But I understand the need for more school places.’

Cllr Austin Hicks agreed.

He said: ‘The traffic in that area is awful and that isn’t just at school times.

‘We definitely need extra parking spaces for staff but we need that whole area sorted out properly.’

Leader of the council Mark Hook said families should be walking to the school.

‘The issue with this application is the need for additional classrooms for children in the catchment area,’ he said.

‘Families should be walking, which will hopefully alleviate some of the problems. We need to make sure we have places for the children in the borough and that is why this application needs to go forward.’

As part of the plans, the school is looking to add an extra six parking spaces as well as facilities for six bikes and 12 scooters.

But councillors say the extra spaces would ease parking for the current size of the school but would not be enough when the new classrooms are built.

The county council is due to make a decision later this year.