THE Burgate School and Sixth Form has outlined proposals to sell off part of its land to raise money for sports facilities.

The trustees of the school have launched a consultation on the plans to sell about 1.5 acres.

Chairman of the trustees Jenny Hair said: “As an academy in the current climate of financial challenges, we are exploring every opportunity to develop the school further. The proposed sale of this small piece of land will enable us to build on our fantastic recent exam results and further invest in our sports facilities.”

She added: “This forms part of our long-term strategy to place the school at the heart of the evolving local community and to be an integral part of the local development plan.”

New Forest District Council’s draft Local Plan has proposed development of land to the north of the school (Strategic Site 18) along with other sites including Whitsbury Road, which is currently being developed and borders the school’s playing fields.

The school says it has been approached by “several” developers involved in Strategic Site 18 and one of the developers, Metis Homes Limited, who has acquired the Burgate Acres site that borders the school site near the main entrance, has expressed an interest in acquiring a parcel of the school’s land.

The consultation document says the land proposed for sale is “under-used” and was designated as a wildlife/agricultural area.

Pupils are currently prohibited from accessing the plot due to “safety reasons” and the school says it does not have the funds to reinstate it.

Even after disposal of the land the school says it would still have “significantly more” playing field area than required.

A consultation document says: “Based on the professional advice received, the trustees are satisfied that the proposed deal would achieve the best possible value for the school. Sale of this corner of land would provide the financial benefit of the disposal proceeds, as well as the ecological benefit of maintaining this land as natural green space and the other benefits.”

The consultation document says trustees “felt strongly” that the land should be “preserved as natural green space” and a condition of sale would be the allocation of the area as alternative natural recreational green space.

This would be subject to planning but the school says this “effectively ensures protection of the existing open-green nature of the land”.

Trustees also felt a condition of any sale should be “improvement of access arrangements at the front of the school”.

The school says: “The proposed deal will ensure that vehicle access to the Burgate Acres/ Lower Burgate development site is directly to/ from the A338 and not via Burgate Fields.”

“Further more, subject to planning approval, the new access arrangements will enable school traffic to join the A338 without passing back via Burgate Fields, as well as provision of a new dedicated school bus waiting zone.

“We anticipate that this arrangement, together with some other minor improvements to be discussed with Hampshire County Council, will significantly improve access arrangements for school traffic, as well as improving pedestrian safety and reducing the disturbance of our neighbours in Burgate Fields.”

The sale of the land would be used to enhance the school’s “limited and dated” sports facilities.

Views need to be submitted by May 3 and can be done by emailing

land@burgate.hants.sch.uk or writing to Clerk to the Trustees, The Burgate School and Sixth Form, Salisbury Road, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EZ.