Flats project for village school

A disused school site in a village near Lichfield - which was closed in the wake of a critical Ofsted report - is set to be transformed with 12 new homes.

Whittington Grange School was closed in 2005.

But developers Cameron Homes Ltd are now eager to replace the empty three-storey 1960s building, situated on the bank of the Coventry canal at Whittington, with 12 new homes.The residential school for children with special needs, previously used by Sandwell Borough Council, was closed in the wake of a critical Ofsted report and pupils transferred to the Meadows School in Oldbury.

An outline application to redevelop the site was granted by Lichfield District Council following the school's closure, and since then developers have held extensive talks with officers to finalise the scheme.

Developers have pledged the scheme 'will complement and enhance the existing streetscape' and provide the village with a new canal frontage. But Whittington and Fisherwick Parish Council has raised concerns about the design of the scheme, and how it would fit in with the needs of villagers. Residents have till next Thursday to have their say on the application - which can now be viewed at the council's Frog Lane offices.