A councillor and former special needs teacher has said she was ‘horrified’ by comments made by residents objecting to the revamp and extension of a Sale school for pupils with severe learning difficulties.

Shirley Procter was speaking as a member of the Trafford planning committee, discussing an application from Brentwood High School and Sixth Form College.

The school wants to carry out an internal ‘reconfiguration’ and to add a single-storey extension to boost its capacity by 80 pupils – 10 per year over eight years.

Also included in the submission was the reshaping of the car park, external play areas and cycle track, and green energy measures like air-sourced heat pumps and solar panels.

However, the council has received five letters of objection from nearby residents and a letter was read out to members of the committee on behalf of two neighbours.

It said the access road on Cherry Lane is already having problems with the excess traffic at the start and finish of school.

“Our gardens will be covered with excess dirt and dust, as well as the excess noise,” it said. “In the school there is excessive noise with music blaring away every lunch-time. 

“We think the noise due to more traffic and children will be detrimental to our quality of life.”

Another objector said the passage at the side of the school which backs onto Catterick Avenue will become more restricted, unsafe and hidden, and therefore ‘unsafe’.

One said the close proximity of the new building to residential properties will result in an increase in noise.

“The school is an eyesore,” one objector said. 

Cllr Procter did not hold back when she said: “I spent a number of years as a teacher at a special school working with people with severe and profound learning disabilities. 

“I am actually horrified by some of the comments that some of the residents have made. There has been a school in this area for many years. Before this school, it was Cherry Manor – a big primary school.

“I live on the next street to a school. I hear the kids playing, and I love it. I absolutely love hearing the sound of children laughing and yelling at playtime and lunchtime. I do not understand the residents’ objections. I fully support this application.”

Speaking in support of the application, Jane Leicester said Trafford really needs additional school places for children with special needs and disabilities (SEND).

“Children will be in a different area further away from the housing when they are playing because of where the new extension will be, so there will be less noise rather than more noise,” she said. 

Cllr Leicester also commended the proposals for green and ‘sustainable’ energy measures at the school.

The application was unanimously approved.