West Cliff Primary School, Whitby: 'Inadequate' dining and assembly hall to be demolished and rebuilt

Scarborough Council approved plans for the demolition of the dining and assembly hall at the West Cliff Primary School in Whitby on Monday, January 23. Once the 1970s building has been demolished, an improved purpose-built dining and kitchen facility as well as a corridor linking it to the main school building will be constructed.

The current building is in poor condition and the new building will improve the quality of the dining hall, kitchen and associated facilities and will increase the number of pupils it will be able to serve. Plans submitted by the applicant, Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust, state that the current facilities are “inadequate” with thin and poorly insulated walls which makes the building “extremely cold in the autumn and winter months”.

According to a report by the planning authority, the new building will be positioned on a similar footprint as the existing building and will not compromise the outdoor play area. West Cliff Primary’s traditional school building, made of red brick and a slate roof, was constructed in the 1930s.

However, town planners have said that the “juxtaposition between the traditional school building and the proposed modern building” is considered an acceptable design solution that will “complement rather than detract from the original building”.

The school caters for pupils from two to 10 years of age and currently has 226 pupils on roll while the dining room has capacity for 79 pupils. The new building aims to accommodate 120 pupils, teaching, and kitchen staff, with associated circulation and welfare facilities.

The school lies within the Whitby conservation area and the authority has said that the plan will “result in an enhancement to the school and consequently the character and appearance” of the area. The plan was approved subject to a condition that all new brickwork used in carrying out the development “shall match that of the principal existing building”.