May 6, 2021
We are really pleased to have received Planning Approval for the Sports & Social Development at St John’s Marlborough. This follows a number of planning refusals for the site, largely due to its sensitive location outside the town limit, being within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and near a sensitive bat roost. This represents a significant improvement to the school’s facilities being located in an area affectionately known as ‘The Somme’, a former construction compound from 2007, which will now include a much-needed four court sports hall with changing, informal games courts and social spaces centred around an amphitheatre.
The planting design includes re-use of the chalk-based aggregate to be seeded with flowering meadow grass to increase opportunities for invertebrates for birds and bats to feed on. Detailed assessments were undertaken such as a Noise Impact Assessment by Archo Consulting, detailed bat survey by Nash Ecology and Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment by NVB Landscape, contributing to a thorough planning application to address the sensitive issues on the site.
The building was led by NVB Architects up to the appointment of Collinson Construction for a design and build contract. Planning was expertly managed by Rackham Planning, cost consultancy by Edmund Shipway and Integral Engineering have designed the SuDS, civil and structural elements.
