School Impact Assessment
Geddes has developed a model to assess impacts on primary and secondary schools for proposed residential developments. This modelling approach and its findings have been tested at appeal without challenge from any education authority.
Our model is used to assess the scale of the impact of new pupils on the existing catchment schools. It can be used to develop scenarios to reduce the scale of impact on a school and these measures can become planning obligations.
This approach is also used to clarify and verify a proposal’s education mitigation requirements including accommodation requirements and the cost of any financial contributions is in accord with the test in Circular 3/2012.
Our expertise is also used to challenge whether emerging supplementary guidance proposed education mitigation solutions are compliant with Circular 3/2012.
- Our approach reduced the cost of the education planning obligation from £3.5M to less than £100,000 and resulted in the Council abandoning its approved supplementary guidance
- Our impact assessment led to the Council agreeing that a new primary school was not required and an extension to the existing catchment school was adequate mitigation
- Our modelling confirmed for several sites in West Lothian that there is education capacity to allow development to proceed
