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Agenda item

Agenda item

Waterside Primary School

Residents will be given an update on the current position with regard to the development of the school including a highways update.

 

Residents will be able to make comment or raise any issues in relation to the development of the new school.

Minutes:

Waterside Primary School

 

Rob Thomas (Head of Education Sufficiency & Admissions) provided the following information and answered questions from those present:

 

·         Planning permission had been approved for the new school, and procurement of initial site clearance works had commenced;

·         Discussion had taken place regarding the new school with Fosse and Slater Street schools, head teachers and governing bodies. Following a statutory consultation period of six weeks, a formal decision notice had been published;

·         Design booklets showing detailed site plans, the proposed layout and size of classrooms and outdoor learning and play spaces were circulated for information.

·         One school (Slater Street) would close and have its school legal status removed, the other (Fosse) would expand in size. The new site would see the coming together of the two schools;

·         Parents would see children from both schools relocating with teaching and admin staff into the larger building;

·         The current Fosse primary school would be remodelled to provide early years provision for nursery and first year reception (F2), and 3-4+ years as a statutory provision. In addition there would be early wrap-around care for 0-3s in co-location with the school staff. It was confirmed that the Portakabin would be removed.

·         Both schools’ reception class would have to temporarily go into the new school for a year while developing the Fosse site for early years and nursery, then they would move back for the following September.

·         The community hall at the back of Fosse School would remain accessible;

·         The main new school would house years 1-6;

·         The new school opening was planned for September 2019;  this would allow for suitable modern facilities being provided with adequate spaces, together with growth space for future years;

·         Children currently attending Slater Street and Fosse Primary schools would have a place in the new school. If demand and the waiting list was significant, the with the school’s agreement extra classes could be added. The demographics of the area would be further considered following completion of the housing development.  It was not expected that class sizes would exceed 30 pupils;

·         The modern school would also contain a hall, kitchen, studio hall, and areas which could be used for external hire by community groups;

·         The £14million construction works were timetabled and feasible. Work would go out to tender through the framework contact. In early spring a 60 week construction period would commence, concluding in May 2019, to allow time for the fit out of furniture, ICT, books, etc. There would be a 1-2 day closure of the old school to allow teachers to transition across;

·         A licence for badger removal had been granted by Nature England. After a statutory observation period and the set was being closed;

·         A full environmental assessment had been undertaken. No other species that required special licences had been found, and there was no evidence in the area that bats or newts were present. Officers would take the concerns of residents back to the environmental consultant to confirm results of the survey;

·         The school area design would include grass, and amphitheatre and wildlife areas;

·         A governing body working group from both schools had been established to bring together to two schools’ ethos and curriculum, to avoid issues for the integration of the children;

·         The pre-school and after-school groups for working parents were expected to be run by a third-party provider;

·         No decision had been made on the Slater Street building when closed. The community would have an opportunity to put forward ideas to the City Mayor on the use of the building. All ideas would be considered two years before the school moved out to enable continuous use. The City Mayor was aware of the need for protection for the building if not in use for a while, given the fires that had occurred in other buildings along Frog Island;

·         With regards to the impact of houses on Swannington Road, it was stated the development would be nearer to the allotments than nearer to the homes;

·         The school would want to be good neighbours and work with communities. The school would encourage local residents to view the development before it opened;

·         The head teacher at the new school would be one of the existing head teachers, following a competency interview process. All teachers in the existing schools would be needed and more. Permanent staff would be transferred, and there would be leadership and management opportunities;

·         The new school would not have special needs facilities, but would have areas for one-to-one support, nurturing areas and reading spaces. It would be totally accessible as a building, with a lift for the children that needed it;

·         Building security would form part of the contract with contractors. 8ft boards and vision panels would be installed during the development, and building lights installed. There would be opportunities for the children to view the development in progress (following site safety);

·         It was expected that development would follow normal working hours and would form part of the planning consideration, there may be an emergency situation when development would have to take place outside of normal operating hours;

·         Once developed, the whole site would be fenced for the safety and security of staff and children, and would be landscaped. Planning approval would be sought for the landscaping plan, which gave an indication of trees within the school boundary.  It was suggested that the fencing around the school should not be visible from Stokewood Park and that ‘green weldmesh’ be used.  It was confirmed that this suggestion concerning materials would be fed back to the developers.

·         There had been no floodlighting proposed for the outdoor sports and play areas and if proposed at a later stage, a separate planning application process would be required.

 

In conclusion it was noted that engagement would continue with residents, but that this would not now be in respect of the location of the school, or site suitability, as the planning application process had concluded and consent was granted.

 

In response to questions and comments, the planning process was explained in detail, including the options of alternative sites that were considered prior to the application being submitted and the reasons that those options were not pursued.

 

Highways

 

Neal Edwards, Transport Strategy, provided the following information, and answered queries from residents:

·         The Local Plan consultation would close on 30 November 2017;

·         A chapter had been included to gain views on a proposed link road from St Nicholas Circle to Fosse Road/Tudor Road, to see if there was community support, or no support. The idea for the road had been in existence with other plans for approximately 40 years;

·         Following consultation a draft Local Plan would be presented Spring/Summer 2018, which would also be subject to consultation;

·         With regards to traffic relevant to the new school, the proposed planning application was to widen the footway outside of the location, widening further down the road, and a proposed narrowing of the road at Central Street / Bonchurch Street with a Pelican crossing at the junction. It was envisaged the crossing would benefit drivers wanting to turn right out of Bonchurch Street;

·         There would be a ‘School Keep Clear’ area around the crossing point, and would have a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) enforced by a camera;

·         The yellow box and Central Road and Bonchurch Street would remain and be revised to bring up to modern regulation standards;

·         There would be a right-turn lane on Fosse Road into the staff car park, and plans of the proposed highways changes were contained on the planning application, but were open to some revisions throughout the process;

·         There were no facilities for the drop off of children, and there was some highway safety merit in having insufficient capacity for parking to keep the school area clear and safe for the children, and encourage walking to the school;

·         There would be a walking drop-off for parents inside the school;

·         It was understood that 79% of children in the current schools (Slater Street / Fosse) walked to school, and it was hoped this figure would increase

·         Works would take place before the Five-Ways junction amendments;

 

It was confirmed that issues previously reported concerning residents parking in the Ward had been considered for review, particularly with regard to the impact of the new school.  It was reported that the City Mayor was aware of the situation and had begun discussions with the ward Councillors.

The Chair noted the traffic issues in the area, which would be impacted by the school. He suggested further discussions should take place. 

He stated it was important that residents became involved in the consultations to influence the school project and wider Local Plan and transport schemes.