93 homes could replace former international college in Swanage
TV presenter Jonathan Ross is among neighbours objecting
Most of an international school site at Swanage could be demolished and replaced with 93 homes.
Dorset Council has been asked to approve an ‘in principle’, or outline application for the Harrow House International College – the details to be agreed later.
The site has been empty for almost three years.
One of the existing buildings at the Harrow Drive site is proposed for conversion under the new plans, but most of the site will be cleared to make way for the new properties.
Public comments on the planning request for the 1.6 hectare vacant site, last used in 2020, can be made until August 16th.
Talks about redeveloping the site go back several years with a public exhibition first held at the Mowlem Theatre in December 2021 followed by a meeting with Swanage Town Council in July 2023 giving information about how the scheme had evolved since the public exhibition.
Changes made include reducing the scale of buildings on the northern boundary, with houses replacing flats and the retention of the main school building with its converted to apartments.
Said agents for West Coast Developments: “The overall scale of the new buildings have been designed to form a more coherent suburban grain appropriate to the local townscape. The existing landmark building will be retained and converted, encircled by new public open greenspace.”
The proposals are for a total of 93 homes, including 14 apartments within the conversion of the main school building.
The remaining 79 new homes to include 38 apartments of 1-3 beds, split between 3 blocks, with the remainder of dwellings being 2-4 bed houses.
These are planned to be a mix of terraces, semi-detached and link-detached homes. The proposals include 90.32% market sale homes and just under 10 per cent classed as “First Homes (Affordable).”
The demolition will remove 610 dormitory bed spaces and 25 classrooms as well as a swimming pool and other outbuildings.
The school, to the north of the town, was founded in 1969 to provide residential educational courses for international students but closed in 2021.
The Harrow House site, on high ground, lies within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Early public comments on the revised proposals concentrate on the effect of additional traffic in the area, especially on Walrond Road, and whether local community facilities can cope with the extra residents.
TV presenter Jonathan Ross, who has a property close to the site, is among those raising their concerns to the proposals.
In his objection, he's said:
"Building up the height of the current buildings would mean that our property would be directly overlooked. We have bedrooms that face towards the proposed development and the loss of privacy would be very distressing and cause a great deal of stress.
"We are also concerned about the change to the fabric of local life caused by so many new dwellings in the area, and the direct impact on traffic and amenities. We've been approached many times by developers asking to buy our land for the same purpose and refuse because we are conscious of the impact it would have on the entire community."