Girls' school plan at Walsall pub is rejected
A bid to open an independent secondary school for up to 220 girls has been rejected by council chiefs amid concerns over extra traffic.
It had been proposed to convert the old Birchills Tavern pub in Walsall into the IQRA Academy, which would have taught GCSE classes from September.
But it has been refused by Walsall Council officers under delegated powers, with other concerns including the lack of sports facilities.
The building has been used for evening classes by a nearby mosque but the application for a fully operational school was put forward by the Pakistan Muslim Welfare Association.
The site in Birchills Street was purchased after closing down as a pub a number of years ago.
Council head of planning David Elsworthy said: "The application by its very nature would give rise to an increase in vehicle movements to and from the site. The application has failed to demonstrate the existing public transport capacity, walking/cycling capacity and the road network capacity.
"As a consequence it has failed to demonstrate how sustainable transport would be maximised."
He added: "The application provides insufficient provision for sports use. The rear outdoor space is far too small to accommodate for the needs of the proposed numbers of students, there is no sports provision within the proposed layout and no details for alternative provision elsewhere have been provided."
The aim of the school was to have the mainstream education covering 11 GCSE subjects but also include Arabic and Islamic studies.
