Walsall nursery intake threat over parking dispute

A private school in Walsall has been warned it will not be allowed to take on nursery pupils in September if it fails to resolve a parking dispute with the council.

Hydesville Tower School was given six months to find suitable parking for parents of nursery children after the car park at the nearby Park Tavern pub was bulldozed for redevelopment.

The school in Broadway North has proposed 30 spaces between Lower Rushall Street and Dog Kennel Lane.

However, at a Walsall Council planning committee meeting on Thursday, councillors decided that the site, within walking distance of the school, did not satisfy requirements.

A unanimous decision was made by the members to pursue an injunction on new nursery place admissions, unless agreed alternative parking is found. However, the school claims the parking proposed has been deemed suitable by the authority's own solicitor and the issue will be resolved.

At the planning meeting, Councillor Mike Bird said: "They have got to have parking for the parents of nursery children. They haven't found suitable alternative parking and now the six months have expired. It is a breach of the planning agreement. It is a private school, a private business."

He added: "The car park proposed does not satisfy council officers' requirements. We will now look to seek an injunction to stop nursery admissions in September 2015." In July 2010 the council and the school entered into a section 106 agreement which ruled the school had to find additional parking. Following the bulldozing of the Park Tavern car park, the ruling gave the school six months to find alternative spaces.

The council says the planned injunction is to ensure adequate parking, part of the condition for when expansion of the school was approved, be in place. Hydesville headteacher Andrew McGinnes said: "The committee's decision is disappointing, to say the very least, and news of this nature unjustly tarnishes the school's reputation. The facts of the matter are that we have cooperated fully with the council from the moment it became clear that we would require an alternative parking facility.

"We secured an appropriate site within the deadline date, that site has been resurfaced and the marking of 30 spaces is nearly finished.

"We have it direct from the planning department's own solicitor they are entirely happy with our proposed solution, providing a minor amendment to the wording of the lease is made. It is our expectation the matter will be brought to a satisfactory conclusion in the near future and there will be no impact whatsoever on admissions into our nursery, or any other part of the school."

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