16.16 Schools

Schools

(See also Chapters 4, 12 and Appendices)

No substantial residential development should proceed without an assessment of existing schools’ capacity or the provision of new school facilities in tandem with the development.

Planning applications for over 50 dwellings shall be accompanied by a report identifying the demand for school places likely to be generated and the capacity of existing schools in the vicinity to cater for such demand. In the case of very large-scale developments (800+ units), the phased completion of the dwellings must be linked with the provision of new schools.

In determining an application for a school, the following shall be considered:

  • Compliance with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Environment, Heritage, Community and Local Government’s Joint Code of Practice
  • Compliance with current Department of Education and Skills Technical Guidance. Current details of site norms, sizes, shapes may be amended from time to time by the Department of Education and Skills to reflect ongoing practice (see Technical Guidance document TGD-025 on the Identification and Suitability Assessment of Sites for Primary Schools – 2nd Edition, January 2012, and any successor document
  • Ensure that school sites are fit-forpurpose in terms of their location, access to services and the provision of space for recreational and sports activities which can help to support an effective learning and development environment for children
  • Seek to situate new schools within the existing/proposed catchment in a manner that aids ease of access from surrounding areas and encourages sustainable mobility by walking, cycling and public transport ­
  • Consider the use of multi-campus schooling arrangements in appropriate cases, e.g. 2 or 3 schools side-by-side; a primary and a post-primary school sharing a site; schools anchoring wider social and community facilities required in the same area
  • Minimum size for a new primary school is 8 classrooms ­
  • External hard and soft play areas ­
  • Urban typologies for new schools which achieve an efficient use of scarce urban land successfully address the streetscape or surrounding context.