‘It’s purgatory what some of the people on the street are going through – it’s just not right’
The works taking place at Castle Rock School are to continue until 2028.(Image: Leicester Mercury)
Residents have said their daily lives have been made to feel like “hell” due to development works on a neighbouring Leicestershire school.
Enabling works began in February on a new two-storey building at Castle Rock School in Meadow Lane, Coalville, which will result in the creation of a ‘significant’ number of new classrooms.
The £37 million scheme, which will see a number of buildings demolished as part of the project too, was greenlit by North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC) last year, but since works began residents who border the school in Castle Rock Drive have raised a number of big issues with the development, claiming it is affecting their daily lives.
When visited by LeicestershireLive, some residents who have lived in the area for decades, claim they were “lied to” and “misled” about the scale of the new building and criticised the apparent lack of consultation on the scheme too.
Noise complaints and dust coming from the construction have been criticised too, with one resident saying there is so much dust that they have to close their windows on a hot day.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “They’ve got diggers and God knows what, and there’s beeping, blowing, you hear them going backwards and forwards.
“There’s so much dust – I mean on those very two lovely hot days we had, you couldn’t have the doors and windows open.
“I don’t know anybody who isn’t bothered by it – I mean you’d have to go and knock on every door. It’s just upsetting the community altogether.”
A second resident, who also stayed anonymous, said: “I’ve lived here for 43 years. People come here because it’s quiet – or was.
“It’s pretty safe. It’s the nearest thing you get to living in a village without living in a village. Everybody knows everybody.
“I’ve got a sponge which shows 24-hours worth of dust which has gathered inside my home.
The sponge from resident B which they said shows ’24-hours worth of dust’ gathered inside their home.(Image: Leicester Mercury)
“They’ve been digging for nine hours a day. It starts about 7.30am.
“It’s purgatory, really, what some of the people on the street are going through, it’s just not right. It absolutely is not right.”
A third resident said things had become so bad last week that they thought they had “died and gone to hell” due to the scale of the noise.
They added that the sounds of the building works has been waking them up on a Saturday morning.
They said: “Just last week, I thought I’d died and gone to hell. That’s how bad it was.
“It was every day, all day long, and it was a hot week – too hot to keep your doors and windows shut. It’s pretty obvious they don’t care.
“Some noises are a part of life and you don’t mind, but this isn’t part of life.
“When it’s been noisy all week, you think, ‘Oh, it’s Friday. It’s the weekend, we’ll have a nice quiet time in’ but then on the Saturday morning I’m in bed and then I think, ‘I don’t believe this’.
“I’m just enjoying a lie in and I think, ‘I’ll wait till 8 o’clock before I get up’ but then they’ve started.”
As well as noise and dust filling their homes and gardens, multiple residents claim that they are “constantly” being told different stories relating to the scope of the development by the developers, Graham Construction, and the Lionheart Educational Trust which runs Castle Rock School.
Residents said that they were told that the building would be constructed 60-metres from the school’s boundary, and nine-metres tall; however this is not the case.
A fourth resident said: “They adjust the story to what we’re asking so effectively, they’re just lying to us.
“You can’t be building what they’re building without knowing all the facts.
“We’re getting different stories from different departments. It’s as though they haven’t got their act together to ensure that we’re being told one story.”
A mound of soil from the back garden behind resident A’s fence.(Image: Leicester Mercury)
The third resident said: “We were told that we’d have no windows facing us and it would be clad in wood and there would be vegetation planted.
“But there’s going to be windows all the way along, on both floors. There’s not going to be cladding wood, so we were just lied to really.”
Communication throughout the planning and enabling phases of the project has been labelled “appalling” by residents.
A fifth resident said: “The communication’s been appalling, hasn’t it? It’s been non-existent until people have started to kick up a fuss.
“You would expect that right at the beginning at the inception, they’d engage with you and then take you on the journey with them so that everybody was aware and is being consulted – that views are being taken into account.
“Nobody’s got any issues with the school – it’s been there for years. Most people have children and grandchildren and we want them educated.”
A digger can also be seen through the trees to the rear of the home in Castle Rock Drive.(Image: Leicester Mercury)
For some residents, the concerns raised now were first raised as potential issues when the plans emerged in 2024 – and some feel like these were not considered by officials on NWLDC.
The second resident said: “We wrote down precisely what is going on at the moment – noise, dust, chaos and so on and so forth.
“As far as I can see, this was not taken into consideration during the planning process. In fact, you could go as far as to say it was totally ignored.
“We sent letters to the council and this is the result – what we are going through now. It’s hell.
“I don’t want to call people liars; I’ll say they are misleading.
“You couldn’t find a more disregarding spot to place a building. They’ve put it in the worst possible place without any consideration.”
NWLDC said it was “aware” of the concerns surrounding the development and revealed had consulted 145 residents as well as Whitwick Parish Council during the planning process.
Head of planning and infrastructure at NWLDC, Chris Elston, said: “We are aware of concerns being raised about the development at the Castle Rock School, which is for the demolition of existing school buildings and construction of a two-storey replacement teaching block, together with external works.
“In terms of the application, we consulted Whitwick Parish Council and 145 residents.
“No objection was received from the parish council, and we had only three responses from local residents.
“We have spoken to the site manager about the issues currently being raised by residents and the need to comply with the relevant conditions on the planning permission.
“We will continue to monitor the site for dust and noise issues, as well as the hours of operation.”
Castle Rock Drive in Coalville, Leicestershire.(Image: Leicester Mercury)
The Lionheart Educational Trust said that it is “committed” to working “constructively” with the community throughout the major project.
A spokesperson said: “We acknowledge concerns raised by some local residents regarding the Castle Rock School building development.
“Consultations with the community, in line with the statutory planning process required prior to approval, were undertaken by our project partners.
“Since the build began, representatives – including from Lionheart – have continued to meet with residents.
“Where issues have been raised, mitigating measures have been put in place to reduce disruption.
“While we recognise that construction can cause temporary inconvenience, this project represents a significant investment in improved facilities for the local community and future generations.
“We remain committed to working constructively with the community throughout the remainder of the project.”
LeicestershireLive also contacted Graham Construction for a comment, however did not receive a response at the time of publishing.
