On behalf of Okehampton College, a new planning application, which includes a request to install a 2.4m security fence, has been submitted to West Devon Borough Council for approval.

The application proposes to install additional mesh security fencing and construct new vehicle and pedestrian gates within the front and rear car parks in the school grounds at a maximum height of 2.4m in order to improve security and safeguarding.

The application also explained that the new fence will be situated on the grass strip along the perimeter of the parking bays and will not disturb any trees or plants in the area.

A spokesperson for the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (DMAT), which runs the school, said: ‘The planning application also proposes replacing several of the school’s windows as ‘the original single-glazed timber-framed windows are life expired’ and will be replaced with white uPVC frames to match the existing windows. The applicants have also argued that the change to more modern windows will reduce heat loss from the building and, as a result, lower energy costs.

There are also additional plans to alter the wide footpath along the front drive, parallel to the entry roads to Simmons Park car park, to provide parking bays for eight extra cars.

Plans to build a new covered outdoor seating area at the back of the site — a space which the application has described as ‘under utilised’ - have also been submitted.

The proposed new seating area will include a wooden-framed structure with clear polycarbonate roofing material and rainwater goods.

The school hopes this will bring a new lease of life to that area of the site and provide an alternative place for pupils to sit during meal times and break times.

If permission is granted, it is hoped that the work will be able to begin in September and run through to October this year.

DMAT is also working on another planning application for the installation of a 3G pitch at St James Primary School, which is being fiercely opposed by those living in the nearby properties overlooking the school as they argue the new pitch would result in a loss of privacy.

At a meeting earlier this month, town councillors resolved to oppose the most recent planning application for the pitch which was first proposed in 2019 before the surrounding housing estate was built.The most recent application proposes heightening the fence from 1.8m to 2.4m but councillors and residents have claimed that the resulting fence would be too over-bearing.

Though St James has a grass pitch already, the application is for a 3G pitch so that the children can play sports in all weather, but it has proven to be a controversial application. One point of contention has been a rise in the level of the pitch, which is now higher than when planning permission was originally granted due to a failure to remove the spoil created when the grass pitch was built.