Cleeve Park

Working with the London Borough of Bexley (LBB) and the Kemnal Academies Trust, we secured planning application for a new Special Educational Needs (SEN) school, co-located alongside the existing Cleeve Park secondary school in Sidcup.

To identify the most appropriate location, we prepared a site selection report which concluded it would be most efficient to collocate development within the existing school so that facilities could be shared.

We engaged with both LBB and the Greater London Authority (GLA) and participated in two public consultation events to ensure local stakeholders had the opportunity to provide feedback on proposals in advance of submission of the planning application.

In advising on the most suitable scale/form of building in consideration of the site’s Green Belt location and the need to maintain its openness, the development comprised a two-storey building situated on the current hard play area of the existing school.

Alongside a sensitive design which ensured the openness was retained, a number of Very Special Circumstances (VSCs), including the use of the full-size artificial football pitch being open to community groups outside of school hours, outweighed the harm to the Green Belt. The planning application was heard at committee and following the signing of the s106, planning permission was granted.