‘Best thing to happen in Wallasey in years’: Major update on massive plans to rebuild Mosslands School

Mosslands headteacher Adrian Whiteley has previously said it is “the best thing that will have happened in Wallasey for a long long time” but a few neighbours think it will lead to antisocial behaviour problems.

The school was one of two in Wirral earmarked to be rebuilt in 2022 with funding paid for by the Department for Education. The current cost of the project is expected to be just under £58m and will see an entire redevelopment of the school site.

Wirral Council officers are asking councillors to approve the new school development at a senior planning committee meeting on October 23. If approved, pupils will move into the new school in 2027 while improvements to pitches in the area will be finished by 2028.

Parts of the current school were first built in 1952 and headteacher Adrian Whiteley previously told the LDRS this was with a 40 year life span. Leaking roofs, drafty windows, glazing dropping out, and cracks in the building are just part of a host of issues caused by buildings that are well past their prime.

With the redevelopment will come a new school building, a new theatre, two sports halls and fitness suite, netball courts, several sports pitches including a full sized county level pitch, alongside an engineering centre and facilities for children with complex needs. Better insulated buildings, solar panels, and a ground source heat pump is expected to save at least £160,000 in running costs putting more money back into education.

The plans have the full support of Wallasey councillor Ian Lewis who said the development would reduce traffic issues in the area, improve local playing pitches, rebuild a football pavilion, and improve the environment around the school.

257 letters were sent out to neighbours, notices were issued, and the LDRS has covered the plans repeatedly. However three neighbours wrote into the council telling the local authority they didn’t like them.

They said the loss of green space was unacceptable, described it as an overdevelopment of the school that appeared to be excessive, worried about long term maintenance, protested against an increase in the school’s capacity, and claimed it “will lead to increased anti-social behaviour.” Other concerns included disruption caused during construction.

A council report said: “The development will deliver a state-of-the-art educational facility of an appropriate scale, and a high standard of design, which would promote sustainability, replacing an existing school which is no longer fit for purpose, in terms of its state of repair, facilities, and energy efficiency.

“The development is considered acceptable in terms of its scale, massing, siting, design and use of materials. Very special circumstances have been successfully demonstrated in which the benefits of the scheme will clearly outweigh the identified harm resulting from the partial loss of the existing local green space to the Wallacre.

“The development will deliver a significant benefit to the development of sport, with significant qualitative improvements to the pitches of the retained Wallacre, as well vastly improved sporting facilities to the school (including a new playing field).

“With access to the schools sporting facilities for the community being secured under a legally binding community use agreement, it is deemed that the benefits of development would outweigh any harm resulting from the reduction in size of the Wallacre playing field.“

The report said the development would improve biodiversity, adding: “The development as a whole would not harm the amenity of neighbouring properties, and in the instance where any potential harm to the amenities of neighbouring properties has been identified, suitable conditions have been attached to overcome this harm. The proposed development would not result in any harmful impact to highway safety.”

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