• Contact us
  • About us
  • Digital edition
  • Online archive
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Appleby Horse Fair: Several cases of animal cruelty

    Appleby Horse Fair: Several cases of animal cruelty

    Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth

    Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth

    Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith

    Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith

    Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned

    Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned

    Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism

    Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism

    Fire crews spend six hours tackling blaze at timber firm’s headquarters

    Fire crews spend six hours tackling blaze at timber firm’s headquarters

    £15 million luxury care home plans for Penrith

    £15 million luxury care home plans for Penrith

    Changes to business rates

    Changes to business rates

    Tesco Express opens doors in Penrith

    Tesco Express opens doors in Penrith

  • Sport
    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Cumberland and Westmorland wrestlers head to European championships

    Cumberland and Westmorland wrestlers head to European championships

    Kirkby Stephen Hockey Club win league title

    Kirkby Stephen Hockey Club win league title

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Appleby Horse Fair: Several cases of animal cruelty

    Appleby Horse Fair: Several cases of animal cruelty

    Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth

    Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth

    Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith

    Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith

    Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned

    Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned

    Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism

    Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism

    Fire crews spend six hours tackling blaze at timber firm’s headquarters

    Fire crews spend six hours tackling blaze at timber firm’s headquarters

    £15 million luxury care home plans for Penrith

    £15 million luxury care home plans for Penrith

    Changes to business rates

    Changes to business rates

    Tesco Express opens doors in Penrith

    Tesco Express opens doors in Penrith

  • Sport
    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Cumberland and Westmorland wrestlers head to European championships

    Cumberland and Westmorland wrestlers head to European championships

    Kirkby Stephen Hockey Club win league title

    Kirkby Stephen Hockey Club win league title

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
No Result
View All Result
Home News

‘Bullying’ claim over Penrith school extension

by Andrew Keogh
25 October 2023
in Latest, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“Bullying” is involved over plans to expand pupil numbers at a Penrith primary school, it has been claimed.

Penrith town councillor David Knaggs, who attended a consultation meeting on Monday at Beaconside School, said the proposal would see pupil numbers there grow from 480 to 599 over a number of years — rather than a new school being built at Carleton.

Westmorland and Furness Council has been given a pot of money by house builders — known as Section 106 funding — to provide additional school places for children living in new housing which has been constructed in Penrith over recent years.

It is aimed at making sure there are enough school places for the existing local population, plus people moving into new housing. 

A meeting of Penrith Town Council on Wednesday was told that the original plan had been to use the funding to build a new school in the Carleton area of Penrith to serve a number of new housing estates in that area. But now there was a risk of that funding being lost, unless approval was granted to extend the number of pupils at Beaconside by 119. There would also be extra provision of specialist support for children with special educational needs and disabilities at the school.

“It is all about selling one proposal and really bullying us into not going against it because of the potential loss of the Section 106 money,” said Mr Knaggs, of a consultation being carried out by Westmorland and Furness Council which ends on 31st October.

“When a lot of people bought their houses on the Carleton estate there was a school on the map. It must be terrible for them to see that school taken from that map now. 

“It is the residents of Carleton who are most affected by this,” said Mr Knaggs, who added there was no other state school provision on the east side of the town.

He added the average primary school nationally had 281 pupils and, if the proposal was carried through, numbers at Beaconside would be more than double that.

“It will be an excessively large primary school, more like the size of a secondary than a primary school,” he said. 

“A small child on their first day in a school with nearly 600 pupils, one short of 600, they are going to feel fairly lost and not as safe as they would in a small, community-focused school,” said Mr Knaggs.

He added that if a school had been built at Carleton, it would have been at the heart of the community, and would have helped consolidate the new estates.

Town councillor Scott Jackson said: “When you focus too much provision in one place, you limit the options in a town and it is not acceptable.

“There is also a problem for residents around Beaconside. It is already very dangerous on those roads at school drop-off and pick-up times.”

He added: “We could, with a new school, design something that is fit for purpose — not something that is 40, 50, 60 years old that is trying to expand in an area where it is hemmed in.”

Paul Donald, who also sits on the town council, said he felt like the whole process, with such a short window being offered to get responses in, was “an underhand form of consultation”. 

“There does not seem to be any sense of what this is about for children and their future as well as what it means for the town,” said Mr Donald.

At a meeting of the Eden locality committee for Westmorland and Furness Council, held on the same evening as the town council meeting, councillor Pat Bell said: “I absolutely support the proposals — they are absolutely excellent. Beaconside is a brilliant school. I think it will be very good.

“My plea would be, please can more attention be put on managing school traffic,” said Mrs Bell, which she described as being a “nightmare” first thing in the morning.

“I know that there is work going on, but it needs to move at pace, especially if the school is going to get bigger,” said Mrs Bell.

She added that when Westmorland and Furness Council considers what happens to the site which had been set aside (for a school at Carleton) that they take into consideration the needs of the community with a view to perhaps providing a recreation area of some kind. 

Hillary Carrick, however, raised a concern that there might be a knock-on impact on Penrith’s North Lakes School, particularly on its financial viability, as a consequence of Beaconside’s expansion.

A spokesman for Westmorland and Furness Council said: “The council is currently consulting on a proposal to increase pupil numbers at Beaconside CE Primary School, including increasing the number of resource provision places.

“We’re keen to understand the views of all stakeholders, including the school’s parents, staff and governors and would encourage anyone with an interest in education in the Penrith area to submit their comments before the consultation ends on 31st October.”

Details of the consultation can be found at https://consult.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/education/expansion-of-places-at-beaconside-ce-primary-schoo/

Related Posts

Appleby Horse Fair: Several cases of animal cruelty
Latest

Appleby Horse Fair: Several cases of animal cruelty

5 June 2025
Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth
Latest

Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth

30 May 2025
Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith
News

Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith

30 May 2025
Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned
Food and Drink

Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned

30 May 2025
Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism
Latest

Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism

30 May 2025
Fire crews spend six hours tackling blaze at timber firm’s headquarters
Latest

Fire crews spend six hours tackling blaze at timber firm’s headquarters

29 May 2025
No Result
View All Result

Stay connected

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Most popular

Sheep showing season begins

Sheep showing season begins

30 May 2025
Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth

Multiple fire crews tackle roof fire in Crosby Ravensworth

30 May 2025
Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism

Penrith Beacon access closed after vandalism

30 May 2025
Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned

Penrith bar relaunched with vibrant events planned

30 May 2025
Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

30 May 2025
Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith

Free domestic abuse support drop-in service launches in Penrith

30 May 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Logo

33 Middlegate
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7SY

Phone: 01768 862313
Email: news@cwherald.com

Registered in England as Barrnon Media Limited. No: 12475190
VAT registration number: 343486488

Explore

  • News
  • Sport
  • Farming
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Your view

Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Photosales
  • Online archive
  • Buy your paper
  • Digital edition
  • North Lakes Living
  • Advertise
  • About us

Follow us on

© Barrnon Media Limited 2025

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy

This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation
IPSO Logo
Review Your Cart
0
Discount
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Total Installment Payments
Bundle Discount
Checkout

 
0
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • more
    • North Lakes Living
    • Buy Photos
    • Buy your paper
    • About us
    • Contact us

© 2020 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald