BRGS Sports Hall

On Thursday 2nd September Rossendale Borough Council’s Development Control Committee voted unanimously to grant planning permission for a Sports Hall to be built at BRGS.

• David Heap, Chairman of Governors at BRGS spoke in favour of the application saying: “BRGS is applying for planning permission for its new sports hall because the current gym is the same gym that I used as a boy nearly 50 years ago. It was built to cater for just 300 pupils but now we have 1200 pupils.” He said that the development was “not a sudden whim, it has been a key priority for over a decade.”
• Sporting facilities at BRGS had been criticised by Ofsted with a report in 1993 stating “Facilities for physical education are poor”. In December 2002 the Lancashire Education Authority in its Curriculum Analysis Report stated that “an additional 406 m2 is needed for PE to meet minimum standards.”
• Mr. Heap said that “a new sports hall isn’t a luxury, it isn’t a new venture, it is an absolute necessity.”
• BRGS received planning permission in August 2000 for a Sports Hall on the same site but this building did not include changing facilities, a dance and fitness studio. The revised scheme accepted by the Committee will be more aesthetically pleasing, it will provide more facilities, it will be less intrusive and it will comply with DfES guidelines.
• The Committee granted planning permission with the condition that the building be constructed from artificial stone to reduce noise and to blend with buildings in the surrounding area.

Martyn Morris, Headmaster, said:

"We are grateful for the careful consideration that the Development Control Committee gave to our application. We are thrilled that at last we will be able to provide top quality sporting facilities which our students deserve. We have been encouraged by the level of financial support that we have received from former pupils, parents, local companies and trusts and we will be fundraising with renewed vigour to reach our target."