A flood damaged school building will be demolished and replaced with temporary classrooms while a long-term solution is sought.
In late 2024, part of The Milestone School on Longford Lane in was rendered unusable due to a severe flood.
SAND Academies Trust applied to Gloucester City Council for permission to demolish the block, which is part of the special school for children aged three to 16.
The Design and Access Statement prepared by Quattro Design Architects to support the application said: “To ensure the continuity of educational services and maintain seamless provision of education on the same site and thus avoiding a large impact on existing play areas and parking spaces, SAND Trust has made the decision to demolish the damaged block and, in its place, install additional temporaries.
“This application is a need for short-term accommodation and not an expansion or refurbishment project, supplementing spaces that are currently not in operation.”
The school occupies a large site of 2.78 hectares, with car parking and play areas. The existing buildings are modern single-storey structures, set back from Longford Lane. The damaged building is in the centre of the school site.
Both temporary buildings will be two-storey to maximise the available space.
The first block of temporaries will occupy the south boundary of the play area in the school’s central courtyard and won’t encroach on any parking spaces. This will be occupied by pupils and staff during demolition of the main building block.
The Milestone School is located in Longlevens, Gloucester.
The second block of temporaries will be erected directly onto the footprint of the demolished block, once levelling and resurfacing has been carried out.
The demolition will result in the loss of 1,770sq m of floorspace for the school.
Permission for the temporary blocks has been granted for three years.