Cornish charity's plans for world-first beach school have been rejected
The Wave Project has launched an appeal to find an alternative site for its new base
Last updated 29th Apr 2022
A charity behind plans for an innovative beach school in Cornwall say they are sad and disappointed that planning permission for their new base has been refused.
The Wave Project had submitted plans for a new beach school at Gwithian so that it could extend the work it does to help children from all over Cornwall.
However the charity was told this week that planning officers had refused planning permission under delegated powers.
As a result the charity has now launched an appeal to find an alternative site for its new home.
Joe Taylor, founder and CEO of The Wave Project, claimed that the only objections to the application had come from the parish council and "second home owners".
He was also critical of planning officers for not taking into account the aims of the school in making their decision.
He said that the current plans had been altered in response to concerns raised about the visibility of the beachfront building and claimed that it would be barely visible.
He said: "We were pretty astonished that they turned it down on the grounds of visual impact on the area".
There was also disappointment that the application did not go before a planning committee for decision with Mr Taylor keen to allow elected councillors the chance to see the benefits of the scheme.
He said that there had been widespread support from teachers and education professionals including those working for Cornwall Council, but the main disappointment is that children in Cornwall will not get access to the new facility.
Mr Taylor said that the new base would have helped to provide support for up to 600 children from all over Cornwall who could be at risk of school exclusion.
The beach school programme offered by The Wave Project has been found to be an effective way to get children able to reintegrate into school and able to learn.
Mr Taylor said: "I have spent four years on this project so it is quite a kick in the teeth. In the planning officer’s report there is nothing about what we are aiming to do and the benefits of the project. All the focus seems to be is that the site is next to the beach – the nature of what we do means we need to be near a beach".
He added: "The real losers here are children in Cornwall, this is a facility that would have really benefited them. There is a huge problem with children who find it difficult to concentrate in the classroom and end up being excluded from school. There is nothing that schools have at the moment in their arsenal to support those children properly, it is exclusion or nothing.
"Cornwall has a poor record of permanent exclusions in schools. The latest data shows there were 48 in a year, that doesn’t sound like many but it is 48 children who can’t access education. We know that these children end up becoming young people with severe problems.
"We have been running our beach school programme for six years, it was originally funded by Comic Relief and is now paid for by schools who see the benefit of what we do. It is an intervention scheme, children come to us for one or two days a week for a limited time and it really helps them to get back into school".
Mr Taylor said that the new centre was fully funded and would have cost the council nothing. He said that while they would not appeal the planning decision they were not giving up.
"We really think that this is a solution, that is the bottom line, we really understand the problem. The solution is really clear and there is lots of evidence to support this work.
"We don’t want to give up on it. We don’t want to try and ram through a planning application against the wishes of the local people and parish council. We want to go to a site where people do want it.
"We are now appealing to landowners in Cornwall if they have a parcel of land that is reasonably accessible to the beach that they would like to partner with us on this project.
"We would love to hear from them. We don’t need a huge amount of land, but we want to make this happen for the children of Cornwall".
If you can help in any way or would like to discuss any support then you can get in touch with Joe Taylor via email CEO@waveproject.co.uk