Year-long road closure threat lifted in Shrewsbury ahead of school development
A road which was set to close for up to a year while a former Shrewsbury school is converted in to apartments will now remain open for the duration of the building work.
The Lancasterian School, which was up for sale with a £1.1 million asking price, is set to be turned into 19 luxury apartments after being bought by a London developer.
And Beacall's Lane in Castlefields was due to close from the beginning of next month as work on the 19th century building is carried out.
But now construction company RGB Group has told Councillor Alan Mosley, who is the town council leader and represents the local area, that the road closure will not be enforced and scaffolding will be moved to allow pedestrians to get past.
However parking on the road will be suspended.
Deliveries will be made to the site once or twice a day and the road will be closed for a limited time and prior notice will be given.
Councillor Mosley said: "I am pleased that the officers have been flexible and delighted that RGB have responded and recognised the difficulties this would have caused the local residents.
"Mistakes were made in issuing the notices of closure and I am glad that our objections have been taken seriously and I hope that lessons will have been learned.
"There will of course be some disruption but this is being kept to a minimum and I am sure that the contractors will operate and keep this to a minimum."
Many local children were educated at the Lancasterian School until it closed in 1988.
The building, which measures around 7,000 sq ft, was later used as administrative offices by HM Prison Services before Shrewsbury Prison closed in 2013.
Toby Shaw, who handled the sale for Towler Shaw Roberts, said developers have "comprehensive" plans for the "iconic" building close to the town centre.
Outline planning permission has been granted to convert the main building into 11 luxury one-bedroom apartments arranged around a central staircase, with car parking facilities on land immediately adjacent to the site.
Planning permission has also been granted to demolish the existing garage building in the courtyard to construct a new three-storey apartment block.
This would provide eight further one-bedroom units with 13 undercroft car parking spaces.
