Exciting plans to rebuild and transform St Marks Catholic school submitted to Harlow Council planning committee

News / Tue 18th Mar 2025 at 11:55am

PLANS to completely rebuild St Mark’s school have been submitted to Harlow Council.

The plans, if approved, will see the following: Demolition of existing buildings and erection of new school buildings with associated cycle parking, landscaping, multi-use games areas, reconfiguration of car parking and associated works.

The school was opened in 1966 and is looking forward to celebrating its sixtieth year with a completely new rebuild.

It has always been a site that, some say, hasn’t quite fully used the land available to the school.

The school is proving more popular than never. There are now over 200 in the sixth form alone.

Having submitted the plans to Harlow Council, they may well go in front of the council planning committee.

For full details, go to the Harlow Council planning page and look for: HW/FUL/25/00069

We hope to publish a more detailed news item in due course.

9 Comments for Exciting plans to rebuild and transform St Marks Catholic school submitted to Harlow Council planning committee:

Resident

2025-03-18 12:09:16

Hopefully it will be built with properly approved methods and materials and they add enough parking so parents don't block the surrounding roads and footpaths every drop off and pick up time

Seamus

2025-03-18 17:29:03

Like most schools in Harlow, there is a lack of an area to drop off and pick up your child/children safely, leading to unsafe roads and paths near the school at peak times. In regards to St Marks, I've often wondered if that plot of land on the other side of the road, could be turned into car park with a pedestrian crossing to safely access to it. It could be opened before school, closed after the beginning of lessons, then opened again from 2pm till 4pm. There is a unique opportunity here to make at least one school in Harlow, safe enough to drop off and pick up your kids.

jarrett

2025-03-18 17:36:39

Seamus, Do these lyrics ring a bell? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?................ Whilst not paradise not more concrete and tarmac perhaps get the police to enforce the highway code.

Seamus

2025-03-18 18:32:34

They do ring a bell however, finding the police to be outside every school twice a day in Harlow won't happen. St Marks is obviously expanding meaning even more pupils leads to even more cars. Using that bit of land would make the road safer, safer for the kids and less stress for residents. Surely it would be nice for a change to have a bit of land used to increase safety for our kids rather than to make a profit for a developer?

Mr Grumpy

2025-03-18 21:28:17

Mark Hall rebuilt - Unimaginative square block. Burnt Mill being rebuilt - So far looking like an Unimaginative square block. I expect that St Marks will no doubt be the same bland square block :(

Anon

2025-03-19 07:41:10

Mr Grumpy, as long as the unimaginative square blocks are build correctly, unlike SFG, aesthetics when designing a school must be of secondary importance. Once upon a time Art Deco was all the rage, then Minimalist. Personally the new schools look better than a lot of concrete monstrosities in the town. Seamus, I'm with Jarrett, lets protect our green spaces. Why do pupils have to be dropped off by car? I walked 2 miles to St Marks school every day, apart from the height of winter, where I got public transport, that still passes by the school. Being a faith school, St Marks has reasons for pupils to come from far and wide, but in every other case, pupils should attend their catchment school. That would reduce the car log jam outside schools each day.

Harlow lifer

2025-03-19 08:11:33

Mr grumpy, mark hall and burnt mill look better than before, not sure what you was expecting...

Smiler

2025-03-19 12:38:15

When I attended St Mark's in the seventies, most pupils walked there from all parts of Harlow. That's why there wasn't a dedicated area to drop and pick up kids. Maybe we should get used to doing that again. It would be good for the environment and children would be fitter.