Councillor Brian Lord answers some objections of the Save Diggle Action Group over Saddleworth School
Cllr Brian Lord
Councillor Brian Lord, member of the Chair of Governors at Saddleworth School, has given Saddleworth News his views on the current situation regarding the proposed new school, and the objections by SDAG to it being built in Diggle.
Cllr Lord said: “Firstly let me say that I have never had a problem as to where the school was to be built. All I want is a decent facility, where our children can work, which is not a 100 years old and sadly no longer suitable for today’s type of education and which doesn’t cost a lot of money to sustain.
“I believe that many people still believe the information being put about by the Save Diggle Action Group (SDAG) and some councillors.
“I would like to take this opportunity to answer many of their objections and suggestions.
“There are three bodies involved in the Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) for the new school: The EFA, OMBC and the school. However the former two are the main players with the school acting as an advisory body.
“I strongly believe that residents should know the exact reasons why it is not possible to build on the existing Uppermill site. I will try to outline the main ones.
“Firstly the land on which the SDAG plan shows the new school to be built is what is called ‘made land’ i.e. it is not the original surface. In this case it is the spoil from earlier development of the site or elsewhere. Thus it is highly likely that the new building would have to be ‘piled’ – at very considerable cost – not allowed for in the SDAG figures.
“The proposed road leading up to the new school building would also need to be piled to prevent it slipping into the adjoining Pickhill Brook – again not allowed for in the SDAG figures.
“Because the school would be built on reclaimed land it is also extremely likely that the land and foundations would have to be protected against gas emissions, with methane barriers etc. – again not allowed for in the SDAG scheme.
“The SDAG scheme suggests the removal of a classroom block – originally stated as 6 classrooms but it isn’t – it is 10 classrooms, plus toilets and offices. Worse still, the majority are specialist Art and Technology rooms – far larger than general classrooms. The existing rooms contain cookers, sinks and specialist benching.
“The scheme suggests putting temporary classrooms on the site of the existing Multi Use Games Area (Muga) and grassed area alongside the linear path. Both areas are used daily for PE lessons. If this were the case we would be short of places to teach PE. The costs of large ‘prefabs’ would be much greater than the SDAG suggestion. In addition they would need a significant power supply as two rooms are for Food Technology and have ovens, washers, fridges etc. and as the school supply is already overloaded, and given the building site would also need power, there would need to be a separate supply going back to the nearest substation. Again costs not accounted for in the SDAG scheme.
“It is also suggested that significant savings could be made by retaining the existing sports hall. Again this would be far from ideal as the building needs considerable money spending on it as it leaks – not only from above but also from below. It would also stick out into the suggested playing field!
“Whilst any building work was underway the school drive would have to serve both the builders and pupils – clearly a very challenging and dangerous situation to manage. One way to combat this would be to construct a second access– again at considerable cost not accounted for in the SDAG scheme.
“As the Uppermill site is worth more than that at Diggle the Authority would receive the cash difference – money that it has guaranteed to spend on the new school and a sum which would not be available if the original site was to be used.
“There are other minor matters but it is clear from the above that financially it is not possible to use the Uppermill site given the modest budget available. One final point concerns the time window within which the new school would have to be completed. It is estimated by the EFA that it would take an extra 8 months to do the building in Uppermill which would mean that it could not be completed in the required time scale.
“With regard to the potential problems relating to the Diggle site. Firstly the Council have made it clear the Diggle site is 18% bigger than the Uppermill one.
“The first concern which people have is the fact that at present the parked cars and the ‘pinch’ point at the start of Huddersfield Road cause problems for people trying to get in and out of the Village. This could be very simply cured by stopping cars parking on the Road (but also providing a car park behind the houses for displaced cars) and by widening the road at the pinch point and this is exactly what the Council are proposing.
“Secondly people fear the problems caused by parents dropping off their children at the entrance to the school (already a major concern at the present site). This will be dealt with by means of a ‘school safety zone’ where stopping is forbidden and could be enforced by the camera car.
“The current control option shows all buses will load and unload on the school site and parents will be able to drive in and drop off their children thus leaving the main road free of obstructions.
“The school has a technical group working to provide the best possible outcome both visually and educationally. This is made up mainly of local people who have volunteered to be part of the group and who have not been “handpicked” as stated by SDAG. The group have education, the children and the village as a main concern and many have experience of working in construction or design. Already they have managed to persuade the EFA to have a two story building facing the main road rather than a three storey and will continue to work for the best possible outcome.
“I understand the reasons behind SDAG wishing to block the application and I have no problem in them stating their case but I hope they don’t blow problems out of proportion and accept that in my opinion their scheme to build in Uppermill is not viable.
“If SDAG manage to hold up the planning process we will inevitably lose our chance of having a new school – one which may never come again in the foreseeable future and this would be a disaster for the area. Should the present school have to close because the building is judged to be nadequate or unsafe, our children would have to travel to other parts of Oldham and beyond for their education. Is this what SDAG really want?”
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
If you would like to share an interesting story, achievement, photo or something you just want to happily shout about please send it in an email to hello@saddleworthlife.com We'd ❤ to hear from you!!
