A new-build nursery school could soon be created in Marshside to make way for a redundant social club.
Proposals have been submitted to demolish the social club next to St Patrick’s Church and build a new facility which would ensure good quality accommodation for pre-school children at St Patrick’s Primary School.
The decision to demolish the social club is indicative of “a common trend across various parishes” which is symptomatic of “the use and feasibility of social clubs”.
The Archdiocese of Liverpool has submitted a planning application to Sefton Council to build the new facility within the grounds of St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School on Radnor Drive in Marshside in Southport.
The submission has been lodged by Cunliffe’s Property and Construction Consultants, who said: “St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School currently does not have suitable accommodation for the provision of pre-school (age 3 to 4) education at the school. To be able to deliver this provision various options have been considered, the most viable is the proposal in this application.
“The proposal is to seek planning approval to demolish the existing social club to the rear of St Patrick’s Catholic Church which faces directly onto St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School playground.
“Following the demolition of the social club, it is proposed to create a purpose-built, new-build nursery for the school, on the footprint of the existing social club.
“The existing social club is no longer fit for purpose and has become disused following the decline of the patrons post 2020 (Covid pandemic).
“A feasibility study was undertaken in 2023 to assess the viability of converting the existing social club into a nursery building for the school. The outcome of this study was that the existing configuration and quality of space within the social club does not easily lend itself to being converted into a nursery.
“The client and design team were also conscious that providing quality spaces, fit for purpose, is critical when looking to create a nursery building. Spaces fit for purpose have proved beneficial in children’s educational development.
“Following the completion of this study, the client and design team investigated the option of providing a new build nursery school. As part of this study a site appraisal was undertaken, the conclusion of this study was that there was no available space within the current school site to provide a school nursery.
“This finding was based on area recommendations for primary schools, the requirement for minimum areas of hard and soft play areas and access to the building. The decision was then made to consider the option of demolishing the existing social club and constructing a new-build nursery on the building’s footprint.
“This option proved the most viable and efficient solution for the school. Therefore, it is proposed to demolish the social club and construct a new nursery building in its place.”
The existing church, the Roman Catholic Church of St Patrick, adjacent to the proposed site, is noted as a non-designated Heritage Asset.
Historically, the site has always had some form of school on the site which has created a strong link on the site between the church and school.
The original church was constructed in circa 1912 and has been refurbished and extended over the subsequent years.
In 1958 Father Francis Fleming came to St. Patrick’s with a desire to develop the site and parish. This resulted with the development of a new school (the current school) which opened in 1968 and a new church hall which opened in circa 1969.
The application says: “Consulting with the Archdiocese on the demise of social clubs, it is our understanding that this is a common trend across various parishes. The decline in the use and feasibility of social clubs commenced in approximately the mid twenty-tens and was accelerated following the covid pandemic.
“As with similar premises, these were closed during the pandemic and never properly recovered following this with escalating running costs being a key contributing factor.
“The result of this is that the social club at St Patrick’s has remained closed for a period of time.
“When opportunity arose to investigate the possibility of using the building as a nursery for the school, both the school and the current Father of the Parish, Father. John Heneghan, were extremely excited, as it offered an opportunity to provide additional accommodation that the school required, but also to continue the ethos of the parish created by previous Parish Priests, in creating and enhancing the link between the school and church.”
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