PLANS for a new private school in Rainford have been submitted.

An application proposing the change of use of unit eight of Mill Brook Business Park, off Mill Lane, from a commercial office to a private school have been put forward.

The application is currently “awaiting decision”.

A planning statement has been prepared in support of the application.

It states that unit eight has previously been used as a commercial office and has 19 car parking spaces “specifically allocated” for their use within the business park.

Furthermore, it says all alterations to the building will be to the internal layout of the building to facilitate classroom layouts and studios.

It adds: “There will be no external alterations or extensions to the building. The site will be a private specialist school offering a bespoke curriculum for pupils aged 11-16 who find it difficult to attend or engage in learning in mainstream schools.

“There is ample staff and visitor parking specifically allocated to the building. The previous business in the building had significantly more staff members who used more cars to commute to work with parking sufficient at this level.

“There will remain 19 spaces in total for staff and visitors, there will also be a designated drop off area for pupils. There will also be a car share scheme for staff to reduce traffic further where possible.

“Pupil arrivals to school will be mainly via a minibus service for multiple pupils. The drivers will have allocated drop off and pick up times which will be staggered to avoid congestion.

“There is sufficient space to the rear of the building where vehicles dropping off pupils can safely turnaround and exit the business park.

“The start and finish times of the school will also not clash with the start times of the majority of the surrounding businesses.”