A public consultation event at the old All Saints School (formerly St. John Rigby School) in Layhams Road gave resident the first chance to look at a proposed housing development for the unused site.
The proposals are for 53 units, being a mixture of flats and houses, terraced and semi-detached, and with some units being up to three storeys high. A small office development is also planned inside the old school reception/office building.
A lot of people in Coney Hall, we suspect, will welcome a long term plan for the site, and may not be against housing in principle. The developers say the proposed building is of a much smaller combined ‘footprint’ than the existing school buildings.
However, many residents are also concerned about the traffic that will be generated by so many homes – particularly being so close to the Wickham Common Preparatory School and onto the semi-rural Layhams Road – as well as the density of housing planned. From a more technical angle, planners may question the impact on the green belt, St. John’s Church and also the Emmaus Convent to the south.
The developers are hoping to submit a formal planning application to the Council in October.
Hayes & Coney Hall Conservative Councillors 
Although this may be a smaller ‘footprint’ than the existing site, the high number of proposed houses will result with an unacceptable amount of ‘new’ traffic and will be yet another eyesore on green belt land.