PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice-Chair Pam Freegard, Secretary and Archivist Kevin Leakey, Treasurer John Phillips, Muhammad Chaudhry, John Freegard, Kate Johnson, Susan Kane, Kay Malko, Cluniford and Evelyn Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, William Murray, Beryl Phillips, Val Purvis, Saheed Rahman, Madge Sutton, Ros Timlin.
M D Kazavadoha
Meena and Chandu Ladwa, Sudha Avasthy, Madhu Verma, Dr. Verma, Sarla Lakhani – representing Mitramilan.
ALSO PRESENT: Mark Walker SBC, Ian Bickerton SBC, Gareth Cheal, SBC, Nic Newland SBC, Gwillam Lloyd SBC, Bob…..? SBC, Councillor Junjab Ali, Councillor Derique Montaut, Councillor Robert Wright, Councillor David Renard, Tim French
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: John and Vi Clark, Paul Izquierdo, Alan Jones
Ian Bickerton
There were lots more people and children in North Swindon, Croft and the town centre, leading to a series of increases in pupil numbers.
The council had a legal duty to provide places and a lot of new schools had been built or existing schools expanded. To meet demands in the town centre 2 areas had been looked at – expand Even Swindon Primary School, and because of the known number of children due to go to school shortly, there was also a need for extra primary entries, meaning a new school was needed by 2014.
Borough architect Nic Newland, had narrowed the proposed sites down to 3 areas as possible sites for a new school, one being the Broadgreen Community Centre site.
A proposal was being put to Cabinet on the 14th December requesting a wide consultation to find out the views of people concerning the 3 proposed sites, and if Cabinet agreed to this then the consultations would probably take place between January and April 2012. The findings of the consultation would be put to cabinet in June/July and it would then be down to them to make the final decision of the schools location, whatever the outcome a conclusion needed to be reached by the end of the summer 2012.
Gareth………
A graph was shown to the meeting relating to the growth in the number of children born in and around the town centre that would require Reception class places, and a table showing that there were currently no remaining Reception places available and that most schools already had waiting lists.
With parental demand for school places increasing it was causing severe pressure for a new school to be built.
Nic Newland
The 3 sites he had identified were Euclid Street, Broadgreen and the County Ground. There was a call for facilities, including a MUGA and car park to remain at Broadgreen, which could be delivered.
Questions and observations –
Would community facilities at Broadgreen be the same as now?
Nic Newland – It could be demonstrated that a school and community facilities could be fitted onto the Broadgreen site but unless more land could be found, some of the facilities would be lost.
Would the community facilities at Broadgreen be separate from the school and would access be available 7 days a week as now and still open during school hours as many groups used the present facilities during the day?
Nic Newland –There was sufficient space to design separate facilities on the same site.
If the Broadgreen site was chosen, people would want a like for like replacement of community facilities, would that happen as the facilities are used by many people not only from Broadgreen but across the town?
Councillor Wright – he and his fellow Councillors had had this conversation and if Broadgreen were chosen there would be no loss of the community centre although he didn’t know how many people used the centre. It might be that another site would be better for a school.
The new school would only deal with the problems of school places until 2016, what would happen if the birth rates continue to increase, where would the children go to school then?
Ian Bickerton – normally schools were 2 forms – 220 pupils, but the 3 sites proposed were all very limited in size. This might mean that another school was required or that an existing school might be able to expand.
There was now more traffic on Manchester Road and Broad Street than when Broadgreen was used as a special need school and regardless of the new schools design people would want to drive their children to school rather than walking, causing more traffic congestion. What could be done to alleviate this problem and improve safety?
Gwillam Lloyd – Evidence showed that most children walked or cycled to school, but to improve safety and the environment, 20mph around certain road could be a possibility.
The school would probably be an academy, so who would run it?
Ian Bickerton – Any new school would either be an academy or a free school, there were multiple ways how this might work, but the Local Authority would be very clear that the academy sponsor should be community based.
Why could a school not be built on the old Queenstown school site, the old Post Office/temp. park site or re-use Sanford or Clarence Street schools?
Mark Walker – SBC had entered into an agreement with Muse concerning the park and it was only temporary, Muse also owned the Queenstown site, Sanford Street was deemed as not suitable, and Clarence Street was already being used by Social Services.
At the moment Children’s services are also on the Broadgreen site, if this became a school, where would they be located?
It was not known, but their needs would be accommodated although it could be at another site.
No Councillors ever spoke to young people in the Broadgreen area to find out what was going on or what they wanted, so what would happen to the play area/park at Broadgreen, the plans look like it would not be replaced, but it was in constant use by young people and if the park wasn’t replaced, it could encourage anti social behaviour as there would be no where for young people to meet?
Councillor Renard and Wright both said the space would be maintained.
Cllr. Wright – He did not know of anyone who wanted to lose the open space or the Centre but it was possible to maintain both.
Councillor Wright said he had noted that there had been no talk in the meeting about the County Ground site did that mean people had no view?
The Chair said the County Ground site hadn’t been put forward as an option until tonight so no one had had the chance to discuss it.
If the County Ground site were to be chosen, then the new school would not need to affect any other current facilities.
Nic Newland – This all had to be worked through.
Where would children cross County Road if the school were at the County Ground?
Gwillam Lloyd – Road safety would be one of the areas that needed to be looked at, as well as accessibility to the site.
There was much concern that the council would only take notice of the school site parents wanted and not consider the community facilities that could be lost for everyone else.
Councillor Wright – That would not be the case and the social impact would need to be taken into consideration.
Councillor Renard said that the reports showed that there was a need for a new town centre school and as the majority of children needing school places were in this community (Broadgreen) it should be around here, no site had yet been chosen but if a new school was not built then children would have to be taken by car or bussed to other schools in Swindon. There were pro’s and con’s to all 3 sites, for example, if from the consultations the preferred site was at the County Ground then the impact on the traffic in County Road might have to be looked at. If people rejected all the sites then it could be a very difficult decision for Cabinet to make.
