'Under pressure' Preston secondary school gets the go-ahead for major extension
A secondary school in Preston that says it is suffering from a shortage of space has been told it can expand.
Preston Muslim Girls High School is set to build a new two-storey block at its Deepdale Mill Street site after getting the green light from city council planners.
The extension will add a further four classrooms to the 600-pupil establishment. It will form the second phase of the school’s Crescent Building development, the first part of which opened in 2020.
The new wing will also include a two-court sports hall, changing rooms and toilets.
In a planning application to Preston City Council, the school had said the new-build would provide “much needed additional space…[to] ease the pressures on the current facilities”.
The school – rated ‘outstanding by Ofsted’ – stands in an industrial area, with the nearest residential properties being around 50 metres away. No objections to the plans were received from the public.
The new Crescent building will sit in the north of the site, alongside the phase 1 scheme and behind the Deepdale Mill building that overlooks the road.
Outlining the reasons for approving the latest expansion, town hall planning officers said in a report that the proposed materials for the block either matched or were in keeping with those of the existing school.
They added: “The principle of the proposed development would be acceptable and would not result in any unacceptable impacts on residential amenity or highway safety.”