OMBC: ‘Fighting tooth and nail for Saddleworth’s children’
A public meeting was held at Uppermill Civic Hall on Wednesday night to allow public consultation over the planned building of the new Saddleworth School.
Oldham Council Leader – Jim McMahon
The main points discussed at the meeting were traffic issues, building and design work, pupil safety and the visual impact the development would have on the surrounding area.
Other topics included the financial implications of the new school and whether or not the present school site could be redeveloped, allowing the new school to be built on the existing site.
The panel of speakers was made up of:
- Jim McMahon – Oldham Council Leader
- Charlie Parker – Chief Executive
- Michael Jameson – Director of Children’s Services
- Matthew Milburn – Head teacher of Saddleworth School
- Darren Jones – Director of Development and Infrastructure
- Amanda Chadderton – Councillor
- Debbie Abrahams MP
Public meeting at Uppermill Civic Hall
Oldham council started the meeting by explaining they were “fighting tooth and nail for Saddleworth’s children” and wanted the new school to open as soon as possible as the present school is not fit for purpose. They said the proposed new school will have a lifespan of around thirty or forty years.
They went on to explain that they are working within a restrained process and this process had been pre determined by the government, the timescale is tight in order to get the funding they said, and this has meant a situation which has resulted in not enough consultation. They admitted that consultations should have been carried out sooner.
They also insisted that the opportunity for a new school should not be passed up as it would be a long time, if ever, that the money would be offered to Saddleworth again. They said they had been in talks for the last two months with the owners of the Shaw’s mill site in Diggle to acquire the land.
The council told the meeting it had originally proposed to build the school at the rear of the Diggle site, but now it has been proposed to build it at the front of the site. The school will be a two story building at the front with three storeys at the back, with car parks and sports facilities.
They said there had been discussions around issues such as residents parking permits, public transport and bus turnarounds, with further meetings planned with various groups in the future.
Oldham Council Chief Executive – Charlie Parker
Oldham council stated it was not legally obliged to carry out any consultation over the new site, but they believe there should talks on the design and building process. They also said they had “very little input” into the overall proposals and the preferred site has to be approved by the Education Funding Agency (EFA).
One questioner asked how any additional funds over the £15million budget would be found.
Chief Executive, Charlie Parker, said the council “did not know” what the additional funding requirements would be until the school and council costs were finalised.
He said that built into the brief is the potential for the local community to use the new schools sports facilities and the 350 seat theatre which will be built next to the canteen to offer refreshments for users.
The council also said the space around the new school building will be protected from future building developments and the risk of flooding.
Darren Jones, Director of Development and Infrastructure, said: “We share your concerns about the area expanding and we are asking for a more detailed discussion. The school will be two stories at the front and three at the back – we will have discussions on how this design can be extended in the future.
“In protecting the area from future housing development we have agreed to buy only the front building space and not the rear listed building, it could be the case that if we hadn’t acquired it, then it could have been used for housing. We have a request from parish and ward members to control this area at this time and I stress there are no proposals or finances in place to do anything with that land.
“If the school was not developed here, and under existing building regulations, there could be houses built subject to planning committee approval, as this is a Brownfield site.
“We are keen as a council to have the listed building retained and we are looking at acquiring it, the existing owners have been talking about alternative ideas for that building and looking at any grants that are available, they wish to retain it but that will be up to them.
“Regarding the drainage issues the EFA will look at this, we are aware there are some issues and these will be addressed in the survey works.”
Some people expressed their concerns over child safety especially with the school being located near to a canal and railway lines, others talked about potential traffic issues with the school now being built at the front of the site near to the road.
Members of the public look at the plans
Mr Parker, told the room the council had “no say over these matters”, whether they liked it or not.
A number of people shouted up saying “what was the point of them being there” if this was the case.
“Unfortunately the decision is partly driven by cost and whether we like it or not, in this context the decision was made by them and not us,” he said.
One lady told the room she was “all for the new school” but as a local mother she had “serious concerns” over the whole idea.
When asked about developing the new school on the existing site, Darren Jones explained that expert opinion had decided it was not viable to do this. He said as the existing site is on different levels this presented problems with “decanting the children”, and moving them away during building works would be far too difficult.
When asked if there would be an independent traffic survey the council said there would be an independent traffic impact survey carried out and that the EFA had said they would do this.
Duncan Rhodes, of Diggle, said he was concerned that three years after the idea of building the school in the village was first mentioned “residents are only now being informed about the issues”. He expressed concern about future house building saying it was originally thought the school would be built on the back plot of land not the front, and now the other plots could be used for housing.
Oldham council leader, Jim McMahon, said he wanted to “inject a bit of reality into the debate” and wanted to remove the notion that the government is a listening, caring and sensitive one.
“I can assure you that this is not the case on education policy. We have fought against the opening of two free schools in Oldham, this shows we do not dance to their tune.
“The difference with this is that there is no alternative to getting the money into Saddleworth, but there’s a fine line about how long we continue to object and get the points of view across before we overstep the line, and if that happens it all becomes a non starter.
“If the government walks away from this the money will not be there, we are not in a satisfactory situation and we are also frustrated, but but we are realistic and we need to make sure we don’t lose the funding that’s on offer,” he added.
Questions arose about funding for furniture and equipment at the new school, and rumours that pupils would be using the existing furniture from the old school.
Saddleworth School headmaster, Matthew Milburn, said: “The school will be 150 places bigger and so will have some new furniture and fittings, much of the existing furniture is perfectly useable although it may not look nice. For me it’s not a deal breaker – I understand the economic context of all this.”
There was applause around the room when one man shouted the new school would be a “disaster for Diggle”, he said tourism would instantly decline and the new school would spoil the whole look of the area.
Charlie Parker responded by saying that there are a “lot of Saddleworth children that deserve a far better education offer than what they have now”, and that was not academic but physical.
“If you lose this money there will be no more available for another school and the opportunity will have been lost, it would not be right that the children should operate from a school not fit for purpose. And in terms of not having the school built in Saddleworth that would mean having to bus the kids around other parts of the borough,” he said.
Stuart Coleman – chairman of Diggle Community Association (DCA)
Diggle Community Association (DCA) Chairman, Stuart Coleman, asked if the council could work with the people more and said the process so far seemed to be more about “presentation than consultation”. He thought people were not getting an opportunity to give feedback or opinions and this was very frustrating.
Mr McMahon in reply to Mr Coleman, said he thought the council had been “upfront and honest”, and it was not trying to pass the buck.
Cllr Garth Harkness, told Saddleworth News: “We do need a new school and I am hoping we will have a say in the design process and that any building fits in with the surrounding area, there are still quite a few unanswered questions on how we safely get 1500 pupils to the school everyday.”
Cllr Garth Harkness – still questions unanswered
A female governor of Saddleworth School made the point that this project was about the future of Saddleworth school children, and begged everyone to support the school project, she said any technical issues could easily be overcome.
“The academic results from the school are fantastic considering the conditions the kids have to work under. The children are like snails with back packs on, having to move across the site to get to their classes – the children should come first,” She said.
Closing the meeting, Charlie Parker, said: “Any deal we do on land will be signed off by the District Valuer. And as such you can be assured this process will be fully independent.”
There will be a parent’s forum with the council on the 25th November so parents can discuss the new school development and how it can work for them.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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