Scoil Chrónáin to get new 16 classroom school

IT IS all systems go for Scoil Chrónáin after being granted permission to remove all existing temporary accommodation and construct a brand new 16-classroom school, reports Hayden Moore.

South Dublin County Council gave the Department of Education the go-ahead to develop a new permanent part two-, part three-storey school building on October 12.

Located on lands opposite Rathcoole Community Centre, proposals incorporate a GP Hall and two Special Educational Needs Unit classrooms.

Plans include 22 staff car-parking spaces, 10 drop-off areas within, and 252 bicycle spaces which can be accessed through a dedicated cycle lane into the school grounds.

There is provision for vehicle access to the grounds which will operate on a one-way system to avoid congestion.

There is also play-areas and a ball court with an area mapped out at the site for a potential future expansion.

In the decision to grant permission, the county planning authority set out a list of 14 conditions that are required to be met prior to construction or throughout ongoing development.

The Department of Education is required to submit a revised plan demonstrating how pupils can safely access the subject site from Main Street in Rathcoole, by bicycle or foot.

Particulars relating to drainage, landscape management and plans, archaeological monitoring, material list and an Irish Water Connection Agreement are to be submitted to the council.

Rathcoole Community Council CLG made a submission to the planning authority in support of the development.

“We are supportive of this proposed backland development to our Main Street and are delighted to see these lands being put to community use,” Alan Fairman, Director of Rathcoole Community Council, says in his letter.

The community group added that they have been “campaigning for a permanent solution to multiple portacabin and temporary site arrangement that make up the existing expansion arrangements for Scoil Chrónáin” and that these arrangements addressed their concerns.

The Rathcoole school is set to receive a new lease of life with the news.

Back in 2015, the Board of Management of Scoil Chrónáin were granted temporary three-year permission for four temporary classrooms in a single-storey block. This was followed up in 2018 with the granting of retention permission for that prefabricated accommodation building.

In 2019 and 2020, the Board was granted permission to erect more temporary prefabricated buildings and increase the number of classrooms, bathrooms and car-parking spaces.

Before the school occupies the new building, all prefab buildings are to be removed from the site in its entirety.