Extensive consultation on the Maidenhead Royal Borough's proposal to provide a brand new special school off Cannon Lane in Maidenhead has produced 'helpful and constructive feedback' from across the community.
A report on the results of the Maidenhead consultation is on the agenda for next Thursday's cabinet meeting (February 22) when members will be asked to move to the next stage of the programme that aims to replace Holyport Manor with a purpose-built school for children with learning disabilities on the education campus at Cox Green.
If given the go-ahead, this would mean the publication of formal statutory notices, opening the doors for further opportunities for people to express their views.
Maidenhead Cllr Cynthia Pitteway, lead member for education and adult learning, and Cllr Kathy Newbound, lead member for children's and young people's services, thanked everyone who had given their views so far – teachers and headteachers, parents, governors, students, parish councils, partner organsations, other local authorities and local residents.
Cllr Pitteway said: "We have an unprecedented opportunity to provide a brand new school to replace the out-dated Holyport Manor. Over the past few months we have been consulting with the widest range of people and their feedback has been constructive and helpful as we bring together a plan that will provide the best possible educational opportunities for children with disabilities."
Maidenhead Cllr Newbound added: "We owe it to all children and young people to give them environments where they can learn, develop and achieve their very best and we are grateful for the time and thought that people have put into their responses. We believe that the new school would provide important educational advantages for all borough children and that we can meet the challenges that any project of this size would bring."
The proposal to replace Holyport Manor is the result of the Royal Borough being selected to receive government funding through the Department for Education and Skills One School Pathfinder programme. The outcome of the council's submission is still awaited.
Consultation so far has shown that local schools are in favour of the funding going to the special school, while the three schools more directly affected – Holyport Manor, Cox Green and Lowbrook Primary – have backed the scheme in principle. There have also been no objections from other local authorities who use Holyport Manor or from partner organisations.
The recent wide-ranging public consultation, which saw more than 3,000 questionnaires distributed and two public drop in sessions staged at Holyport Manor, Maidenhead and Cox Green, produced a number of concerns about the proposal.
The two main issues raised were the impact on traffic at Cannon Lane and the reduction in the size of playing field space at Cox Green School.
The cabinet report says that if the proposed relocation were to go ahead, the planning application would include a transport assessment. The council would aim to reduce traffic through a properly researched and implemented travel plan, encouraging the use of public transport rather than cars.
The report also explains that while a full feasibility study has not yet been carried out, the land needed for the new school would still leave Cox Green School with more playing field space than a school of its size requires under DfES guidelines. The 19-acre Cox Green site actually has a surplus of around nine acres and it is this surplus land which makes it possible to built the new school in this location.
The option of retaining Holyport Manor on its current Maidenhead site was considered by the borough but rejected for five main reasons:
1. The site is isolated from the community and this marginalisation is contrary to the council's policy of inclusion and that of the government in the Every Child Matters agenda
2. The isolation means that pupils have to travel to take advantage of secondary facilities elsewhere in the borough, limiting their access to a broad and balanced curriculum.
3. Construction of the new school on the current site would be extremely difficult given the constraints there. It would lengthen the construction period by between 18 months and three years, during which time the staff and pupils would have continuous disruption.
4. Redevelopment of a modern school that meets current standards would probably be a departure from the Local Plan and would have to be referred to the Government Office for the South East – this would also lengthen the process with no guarantee that the school could go ahead at the end of it.
5. The DfES says the new school must be open by September 2009 or early 2010. Phased construction on the current site would delay the opening until at least 2012 – two years later than the government deadline.
The cabinet report also says that the future of the Holyport Manor site is not being considered at this stage as it will not be vacated until 2010.
If cabinet agrees to go ahead with the plan to relocate Holyport Manor the formal statutory notice, allowing two months for comments and objections, would be published. If there were no objections Maidenhead cabinet could take the decision to proceed. If there were objections the matter would, under current legislation, be decided by the local independent school organisation committee (SOC), which must give unanimous support . If the SOC could not agree, the final decision would be taken by the government's schools adjudicator.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
