Residential scheme in pipeline for preparatory school site

Major plans have been drawn up to build a residential scheme at the site of an independent prep school in Colwyn Bay.An application has been submitted to Conwy Borough Council seeking permission for 106 homes at the site of the current Rydal Penrhos preparatory school.As part of the proposals Pwllycrochan House, the grade II-listed building that currently accommodates the preparatory school will be renovated to provide 33 apartments.Modern unsympathetic extensions to the south-eastern side of the building will be demolished as part of these plans to restore the building to a state more reflective of its original design.The modern outbuildings and mobile classrooms within the grounds of Pwllycrochan House will be demolished along with Erskine College and associated outbuildings, which together with the school’s playing pitches and fields will be redeveloped to provide 73 new houses.The 15-acre site forms part of the Rydal Penrhos School Estate. Rydal Penrhos provides privately-funded opportunities for boys and girls from the age of two to 18.The site itself currently accommodates the Rydal Penrhos Prepatory and Pre-school, providing education for children between the ages of two through to 11 years old.A planning document, prepared on behalf of Castle Green Homes and Rydal Penrhos School and Methodist Schools Property Company, said the scheme will “enable the Rydal Penrhos on-going improvement plans and estate rationalisation”, to continue as it transforms from a boarding school to a day school.It said that by disposing of the site, the school will be able to relocate the current preparatory and pre-school into an identified building on campus that is better suited to a future educational use.”Overall as a result of the proposals the Rydal Penrhos campus will be much improved and be able to be maintained much more efficiently”, the document added.