A specialist school for children with complex needs has submitted a revised plan to redevelop its site after a previous bid was blocked. 

Members of the Whitefield Academy Trust, which runs Joseph Clarke Special School, in Vincent Road, Highams Park, went back to the drawing board after councillors rejected proposals to build a two-storey classroom extension and a new reception area with ramp access in January. 

Waltham Forest council has received six objections from neighbours living in homes to the west of the site in Vincent Road and Silverdale Road, who argue increased pupil intake will lead to increased traffic and say the redevelopment is excessive in size and will overshadow properties. 

The Trust received a grant from the Targeted Basic Needs Programme to improve facilities at the Highams Park site with a focus on increasing its current pupil intake of 97 to 140. 

Plans include removing two temporary classrooms to make way for a two-storey block and a new reception area with ramp access.

The children's playground area would also be relocated and expanded in size. 

The application states it has addressed privacy issues realting to two homes in Silverdale Avenue by re-angling windows and proposing obscured glazing. 

Previous plans to allow access to the ground floor roof have been dropped and the eight minibuses in operation, which currently park in three sections of Vincent Road, would all be parked on the school grounds or the existing lay-by under the new proposals. 

Keighley News:

At present, minibuses wait in the turning area, the lay-by area and block the carriageway in Vincent Road 

As part of any agreement, Whitefield Academy Trust would contribute £8,000 towards the upgrade of cycle routes in the area and the monitoring and implementation of a travel plan. 

The Trust said: "The purpose of this second application is to address the concerns raised by local residents and committee members. 

"We listened carefully to everything that has been said and have now re-designed the building to come up with a solution that we hope will be welcomed by residents and members alike."

The application will be decided at next week's planning committee on Tuesday (March 31). 

The centre of excellence for the visually impaired in the south east attracts pupils with from across twelve London boroughs and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.