Elite school and neighbours clash over sports pitches plan

Lambrook School in Winkfield Row has drawn the ire of some neighbours over new plans for a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA), netball court and a car park.

The proposed site is east of Cricketers Lane, near its junction with Bracknell Road.

Neighbours raised fears over the ‘dangerous’ turning into Bracknell Road, a substantial increase in traffic, flooding, and disturbance in Cricketers Lane.

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Meanwhile, the Bursar of the School has said the new pitches will serve the children of the school, allowing matches and training sessions to be played, without taking them off site. The pitches will also be used regularly by our State Partnership Schools.

Neil Moulton, Bursar of Lambrook School said: "We have undertaken feasibility studies of the School site and have concluded for several reasons, that the chosen site is most suitable.”

“We are keen for our children to play sport as much as possible throughout the year and such a pitch enables us to do so.”

“Currently, we use four or five minibuses to take our children off-site for matches and training. We’ve had to use other services in Bracknell or even Reading, which means we have to ship around our children in mini buses, which eats into their time. It would be much better to keep all of this onsite.

“Safeguarding is a top priority for us, we take it very seriously, this would be a way of keeping our children safe.”

Mark Siggars, who lives in Cricketers Lane has objected to the plan.

“Accidents do happen down here. It gets icy and cars can skid. It’s happened to me. Visibility is poor, and someone crashed into the railing over The Cut recently.”

Mr Siggars added: “If you have that many cars coming here, people will be going by their satnavs, they won’t be aware that this is a tricky entrance and exit.”

A big point of contention is the car park, where drivers often park on the grass verges.

In response, Mr Moulton said: “The car park would only be used twice a week for matches.  Cars from Cricketer’s  pub have overspilled onto the lane’s verges and we have had matches with parents from other schools parking on the verge.

“Our intention is to take parents cars and visiting minibuses onto our land instead.”

Mr Siggars was sceptical that the car park would only be used twice a week, and said he would prefer the verges being used for parking than a new car park constructed.

The school has attempted to mitigate the flooding risk of the car park by making it gravel – which it says is more permeable than concrete.

Mr Moulton said: “Think of a National Trust car park, that’s what we want. It’s our site as well, we want it to be pretty and in-keeping.

"The car park will be used for parents and opposition minibuses for sports matches. This will vastly reduce the ad-hoc parking on the verges along Cricketers Lane.”

“The design of the gravel car park lends itself to managing any potential excess rainwater and would be aesthetically similar to already existing gravel parking areas located within our school site.”

Construction of the car park,  which would have 31 car spaces and two mini bus spaces, would require a small section of the hedge to be removed so that cars can enter. This will be replaced within the proposed planting scheme.

READ MORE: Could new pitches flood at elite school in Winkfield Row?

In an attempt to reduce flood risks, the astroturf pitches would have attenuation tanks built into them, which would slowly drain any water that seeped through the turf into the water table.

Two other Winkfield residents expressed concern over flooding and sewage that has emerged from the water table. Stuart Tarrant raised objections on these grounds, and photos from neighbour Andrew Johnson show extensive flooding in the field immediately north of the one Lambrook School wants to build its pitches.

Mr Siggars added: “This is a lovely quiet lane most of the time. People enjoy walking through here, horseback riders come down here.

“If you make a lot of changes, the environment of this lane will be destroyed. There is a lot of wildlife here, you see deer, bats, ducks making nests in the hedges so there’s a lot of nature that’s going to be at risk.

“There will be light pollution, noise pollution, what we’ve got here is going to disappear. There is the pollution of the astroturf, the flooding, the sewage, the danger, and the fact that a lot of people find this a very enjoyable lane to walk in and there aren’t many of them left.”

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Mr Moulton said: “It’s all for the benefit of the children. As an educational institution, we want to what’s best for our children while looking after others and the local environment.

“We are very mindful of our local environment, for the children, the staff and the wider community as well.”

On the environmental front, the school has planted 400 tree saplings in its grounds, and staff have installed bird boxes on many of the trees. The school also has a farm with rescue chickens and pigs, as well as being part of the Woodland Trust.

You can view and comment on the plan by using reference 21/00260/FUL on Bracknell Forest Council’s planning website: at https://planapp.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/online-applications/