The school rebuilding programme funded by the Department for Education carries out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at schools and sixth form college buildings across England, with buildings prioritised according to their condition. Mosslands School, Wallasey has been approved for a complete rebuild within the programme.

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The Director of Regeneration and Place:

(1) Approves the commencement of consultation to appropriate land shown edged red on the annexed plan (“the Site “) which is currently designated as Public Open Space to Educational Use as shown in Appendix 1

(2) Approves that if no objections are received following the advertisement requirements of section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 the Site be appropriated for Educational use

(3) Approves that if objections are received then those objections be considered by the Assistant Director, Asset Management in consultation with the Chair of the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee.

The current site of the school presents significant challenges in building a new educational facility whilst maintaining curriculum continuity. Design opportunities of the school building and associated external sports facilities would be missed if a wider boundary was not taken into consideration for the school. The existing school does not have sufficient dedicated playing facilities and already makes use of part of the adjacent fields for grass sports. Enlarging the school boundary to incorporate the Site would provide the opportunity to meet educational needs and ensure appropriate site security for pupils undertaking recreational activities. The proposed school boundary is shown edged red in Appendix 3. It is considered that the educational needs outweigh the requirement for open space and that notably, community use will still be available on the remaining Wallacre playing fields.

If appropriation is not effected then the educational needs may not be met in the most efficient way possible. Any new build would focus solely on the existing red line boundary shown edged red in Appendix 2. Early options show that there would be significant practical difficulties in building a new school within the current boundary, lost design opportunities to deliver the best educational outcome and to enhance sports facilities across the whole site for the wider community. Any build project would be taking place on an existing school site delivering a full curriculum and this would increase cost and programme timescales.