‘Onwards and upwards’ for The Gatwick School as it finally secures permanent permission

The Gatwick School opened in Gatwick Road in 2014, twice receiving temporary permission from Crawley Borough Council to stay and once having permanent permission refused.

But at a meeting of the council’s planning committee on Monday (February 8), the permanent permission was approved, with plans to build a sports hall and other facilities also given the thumbs-up.

The decision was hailed as a ‘landmark day’ by the school, which is operated by the Aurora Academies Trust.

Headteacher Bianca Greenhalgh said she was ‘thrilled’ by a petition of more than 1,400 names, which was submitted to the council in support of the application.

She added: “It was really heart-warming during the meeting to hear the councillors speak so highly of our school.”

Tim McCarthy, Aurora’s CEO, said: “The Trust and The Gatwick School would like to thank all parties involved in helping to get this decision over the line.

“In particular, we would like to thank our parents and pupils, who have remained incredibly loyal throughout. Their support has been invaluable.

“Finally we can make good on our promise to them, which was to provide outstanding facilities for the benefit of their children.

“This is definitely a case of onwards and upwards for The Gatwick School.”

The Trust and the school will now work with the Department for Education to start working on new facilities as soon as possible.

As well as the sports hall, they will include a Multi Use Games Area and courts for outdoor PE lessons.

Changes to the school itself will see space made for a library, kitchen and dining area as well as a new visitor reception.

The buildings will also be decked out in new blue cladding.

The Gatwick School caters for children aged four to 16 and had only 44 pupils when it opened. It now has 832, with space for 1.020, and has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

Councillors raised only a few concerns during the planning meeting – traffic and parking during picking up and dropping off time, as well as the fact the school is in the middle of Crawley’s main industrial area.

This has been a sticking point since the moment the school was conceived and the general feeling was that it was time to let the issue lie.

Peter Smith (Lab, Ifield) said: “I think it’s been there long enough now that the time has passed to continue to debate that point and we must accept that the school is there, whether for right or wrong.

“It’s very clear to see that there’s a great team running the school, it’s a popular school and the pupils like it and it’s obviously a good place of education.”

To view the application, log on to planningregister.crawley.gov.uk and search for CR/2018/0172/FUL.