Kirkstone House School’s plans to expand into two Baston bungalows rejected by South Kesteven District Council

Plans for a village school expansion have been rejected following concerns about the loss of housing.

Kirkstone House School had applied to use two bungalows at 22 and 24 School Lane in Baston as part of the school.

The buildings would have been used for small teaching groups, resource storage, and activities like cooking and budgeting.

South Kesteven District Council officers recommended approval, saying the educational benefits would outweigh the loss of residential use. However, councillors on the authority’s planning committee on Thursday (October 17) disagreed.

Objectors, including Baston parish councillor Adrian Clarke, feared the loss of housing would harm the village and said there was 'no educational need' for the change.

“The school is a mainstream school, not a special school, and it does not need to deliver what is claimed within the application needs to be delivered,” he said.

He added that the school already had empty buildings.

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He raised concerns about housing, citing expected plans for 83 homes and noting that bungalows are 'very useful for disabled people'.

“The reality is, it's going to be very difficult for us to explain to residents why there should be more buildings within the village, when they will tell us residential properties are being used for other purposes,” he said.

Safeguarding issues were also raised, particularly regarding the lack of secure, separate facilities.

Fellow Baston parish councillor Jill Groutage, speaking as a member of the public, also addressed the lack of educational need and the potential impact on housing.

She highlighted the council’s local plan's identification of a need for bungalows and the lack of educational qualifications offered by the school.

District councillor Tim Harrison (Ind) proposed rejecting the application, given the push for residential developments by the government in recent years.

“What carries weight for me is that we are losing the possibility of two residential properties,” he said.

“Given the pressure we’ve had put on us over the last year as a committee on preserving and creating residential properties, for me this becomes a no-brainer.

“We can’t ignore the fact that they’ve got empty properties there. Knowing they have them within the school premises but aren’t using them gives more weight to the argument that we’ll be losing two prime residential properties.”

Councillors felt the harm of losing the properties outweighed the benefits and voted unanimously to reject the proposal.