PLANS have been put forward to demolish a former art block at a secondary school in Carlisle to help make way for a new sports hall and changing facilities. 

Austin Friars School submitted a proposal for the new sports facility on their grounds at Etterby Scaur to Cumberland Council back in November last year. 

The application was approved in February, 2024. 

Plans submitted to remove the wooden classroom facilities were submitted to the council this week (April 2). 

The private school was first established in 1951 by the friars of the Order of St Augustine and aimed at providing a boarding education for Catholic boys in Cumbria. 

In 1986, the school's first cohort of girls was placed on the campus.

The original design and access statement read: "This application is about providing more beneficial facilities to the school for physical education development and learning." 

Upon the project's approval, the planning authority said: "In overall terms, the principle of development is acceptable.

"The scale, massing and appearance of the proposed sports hall and changing facilities would respond to the local context and would not be disproportionate or obtrusive within the character of the area or the Stanwix Conservation Area.

"There would be no impact on existing access provision or in-curtilage parking provision.

"The proposal would not have a detrimental impact on the living conditions of the occupiers of the neighbouring properties through intensification of use, loss of privacy, loss of light or over-dominance.

"Adequate drainage facilities to serve the development could also be achieved and there would be no detrimental impact on existing trees or biodiversity."