Eton College is one of the leading independent schools in the UK and it provides a comprehensive all-round education, coupled with academic excellence, to around 1,300 pupils. The college’s campus is largely surrounded by, or within, the Green Belt or setting of heritage assets, including the Eton Conservation Area and statutorily listed buildings, parks and gardens.
The college’s brief was to secure planning permission for the comprehensive re-provision of indoor sports facilities within the college’s grounds, including new indoor sports halls and a new indoor swimming pool, to replace poor quality, inadequate and unstainable facilities from the late 1970s.
Savills provided strategic planning advice to the college and proactively engaged with the local planning authority, statutory consultees and interested parties. Savills prepared, managed and submitted a detailed planning application for the provision of new indoor sports facilities in July 2018. Given the extent of new sports facilities in the Green Belt, there was a need to develop a ‘Very Special Circumstances’ case for the school, which comprised a need case and a comprehensive scheme for community use of the new facilities.
Savills secured planning permission for 10,845sqm GEA of new indoor sports facilities for the college within six months from submission of an application. The application was also supported by Historic England who described the proposals as being of outstanding design. The application was referred to the Secretary of State in mid-December 2018, and further to a representation prepared and submitted to the Secretary of State by Savills, confirmation that the application was not to be called-in was received in January 2019.