Plans lodged for final phase of Whitehouse school extension

Suffolk County Council submitted the final application on January 29, which proposed to demolish the swimming pool, remove temporary classrooms and construct a new pre-school and main school extension at Whitehouse Community Primary School.

The latest application follows on from revamp work completed in 2017 to build a new annexe providing six additional classrooms.

A spokesman from Suffolk County Council said: “This is the final phase of the project which will see the school capacity increase from 420 to 630 pupils.

“This project also provides a fantastic new purpose built pre-school building on the old swimming pool site.

“Once complete, the existing pre-school, Sunbeam, will move out of their current accommodation, which is within the main school buildings, freeing up space to allow for remodelling and extension providing additional classroom space for the school.”

The pre-school will be housed in a new standalone building on the Ulster Avenue side of the school site, with a dedicated access also set to be created as part of the application.

The work represents the final stage of a long-running improvement programme for the school’s facilities.

It was formed in 2010 by the merger of the Whitehouse Infants and Whitehouse Junior schools, but has relied on using temporary classrooms for much of the last eight years.

The plan is currently open to comments as part of the consultation period, and is likely to go before Ipswich Borough Council’s planning committee in March.

If approved by planners, it is not yet clear when work will begin or when the new facilities will be open by.

The new teaching spaces will allow the school to increase its capacity by more than 200 children up top 630 places in total.

The 2017 annexe construction was given a ‘highly commended’ award by the Ipswich Society in its annual awards scheme in November that year.