Cheam School near Newbury applies to open new two-way access point along A339
A North Hampshire prep school has applied for planning permission to close its existing exit along the A339 and open a new two-way access point further south along the busy A road.
Cheam School in Headley is also seeking permission to build a new 95-space car park to the west of the access point and new pedestrian routes and footpaths within its grounds.
Cheam, noted for educating King Charles in his youth, has said that the benefits of the proposal would be “improved access from the A339, highway safety improvements both on and off-site, and improved pedestrian and vehicular circulation”.
The planning application states: “The application proposal aims to deliver a much-needed infrastructure improvement to the school in the form of a more simplified and rationalised site access arrangement with the A339, comprising the closure of the existing sub-standard southern exit and construction of a new two-way vehicular means of access further to the south and serving a new replacement car park.
“This would result in a more coherent, structured and orderly parking and pedestrian movement/circulation strategy, removing existing areas of conflict between pedestrians and vehicles and conferring greater safety, directly addressing an identified inefficiency in the day-to-day running of the school.
“While the existing capacity of the school would remain unchanged, the proposal would help alleviate some of the existing pressure points and underpin the continued livelihood of the school as a highly regarded and much-valued education institution in the area.”
A key objective of the proposal is to make the school site a car free environment so it would be safer and more pleasurable for pupils and staff.
Cheam hopes to achieve this by consolidating the access points at a single position and all the parking spaces into one large new car park and drop off/pick up area to the south of the main school area.
According to a transport statement contained within the proposal, Hampshire County Council has confirmed that the new A339 access is acceptable in principle, subject to further highway assessments.
This transport statement also reveals that although the new access has been designed in line with the current speed limit along the stretch of the A339 by Cheam, the school is willing to provide a financial contribution to fund a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to extend the existing 40mph limit to the south of the school towards Strattons Farm and Kingsclere.
The planning application can be viewed on the Basingstoke and Deane planning portal at reference 25/00498/FUL.
While he was still the Duke of Cornwall, King Charles studied at Cheam in the late 1950s and early 1960s, just like his father had done before him in the 1930s.
