Navan education campus moves a step closer as council receives further detail on ambitious project

Further information requested by Meath County Council on the planning application for the new campus for Ard Ri Community National School and St Ultan’s Special School at Academy Street in Navan has been submitted.

Both schools will share a campus adjacent to the Baker Hall development with a 16 classroom school plus a four class-base SEN base to be constructed for Ard Ri CNS while and St Ultan’s new building will be a 20 classroom special school.

Ard Ri CNS's new school consist will be a split-level building with part single-storey and part three-storey school comprising of teaching spaces, ancillary spaces, physical education hall facility, special education needs unit, general purpose hall, social areas, library, administration areas, toilet and changing facilities.

A new two-storey building will be provided for St Ultan’s Special School comprising of teaching spaces, ancillary spaces, physical education hall facility, special education needs suite, general purpose hall, social areas, library, administration areas, toilet and changing facilities, external stores with a total internal area of circa 4,359.2m².

The planning application for the long awaited new school campus for both schools was submitted in July of last year and further information was subsequently requested on 30th August.

Applicants have a six-month period in which to respond to that request and in this case a three-month extension was sought and was granted. The further information submitted on 16th May and after reviewing the information and deeming it to be significant, Meath County Council requested that a planning notice be published and this appeared in the Meath Chronicle last week.

Council planners had sought further information from LMETB in relation to a number of points and asked that a revised site layout plan be submitted. It requested that a trafficable access route for emergency vehicles on to St Columbus Crescent from the development be included. A revised surface water system was requested. It asked that all access points be included and that it be demonstrated how they link up with the wider area including Baker Hall, the Trim Road and Academy Street.

Clarification on staggered school times was sought and the applicant was asked to revise the mobility management plan and submit details relating to the appointment of a Travel Co-Ordinator to oversee and enforce the recommendations contained within the revised Mobility and Management Plan and the Traffic and Transport Assessment. A lighting design and a noise impact survey were also requested.

The further information sought was recently submitted and will now be considered by planners.

Last November, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, then in the role of Tánaiste, visited Ard Ri CNS when the need for the delivery of the campus to be prioritised was pressed upon him by principal Darragh Roe who explained that the school has been in temporary accommodation at Balreask Old since 2010 with the school growing from just seven pupils to 360 pupils in that time.

In March of this year, the parents associations of both Ard Ri CNS and St Ultan's launched a joint petition that was signed by 1,000 parents in just three days as they came together to push for new school buildings to be progressed without delay.

The petition demanded “the immediate prioritisation and acceleration of the process by the Department of Education, Planning Department in Meath County Council, and all stakeholders involved, to ensure no further delays.”

It also called for a clear and truthful timeline for the completion of this long-overdue project. The letter and petition was sent to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Education, the Department of Education Planning and Building Unit, Meath TDs and senators, Navan councillors, the Planning Section Meath County Council, the Bishop of Meath, the Chief Executive of Louth and Meath Education and Training Board and the Boards of Management of both schools.