KES suffers another defeat as Stratford councillors reject latest housing bid

Potential parking problems and damage to trees on King Edward VI School’s playing fields in Manor Road were cited as reasons to throw out the latest application, along with objections from nearly 70 neighbours, the ward member, Stratford Town Council and Sports England.

Letters of support for the new attempt to get the go-ahead for developing the strip of land that fronts the road, had been sent by 11 members of the public and more than 1,500 had signed a petition organised by the school.

Speaking at last Wednesday’s Stratford District Council planning meeting, KES head teacher Bennet Carr said: “Our long-standing aim is to create a state-of-the-art sporting hub that benefits equally the school and the local community. The funds released from this development, which lies outside the area used for sport, will allow the desperately needed sports facilities to be built.

“Since first obtaining planning permission for a floodlit all-weather pitch in 2008 we have explored various potential funding streams but our efforts have been unsuccessful. Without the proposed development there is no reasonable chance that these facilities will be realised in the foreseeable future.”

He said the floodlit pitch would be used primarily for hockey and tennis and this would mean children not having to make a daily trip to Solihull to train and play.

It would aso be available for organisations such as hockey and football clubs for up to 50 hours a week in term-time and 80 hours each week during school holidays.

A similar scheme for six four-bed houses was rejected in 2020 and was then dismissed at appeal on the grounds of the proximity of one of the proposed houses to an existing property and the threat to trees. Mr Carr and planning agent Peter Frampton explained that both these had now been addressed.

But ward member Cllr Kate Rolfe (Lib Dem, Tiddington) said the trees were still in danger and there were other reasons why permission should be refused, namely potential parking issues not helped by the houses having just two parking spaces when the council’s own guidelines stated they should have three.

She told the meeting: “We have had years and years of KES putting in applications and people have upped and sold because they can’t take the harassment and uncertainty any longer.

“They receive over £1/2m each year from the [Stratford] Town Trust, no other school gets anything. KES is a privileged school and could raise the money to do what they want without building six hideous looking houses spoiling everyone’s outlook and ruining people’s livelihoods in the process. Please be brave, I urge you to refuse this application.”

After discussing the application for nearly an hour, Cllr Mark Cargill (Con, Alcester and Rural) proposed that planning permission be refused and the scheme was rejected by councillors by six votes to five.