Agenda item

Building of John Kelly Schools/Crest Academies

Councillor John moved the motion in her name which asked the Council to seek an urgent meeting with Government Ministers to see if the Government could help the Council to purchase land adjoining the John Kelly Schools to avoid building the new academies in a way that it was claimed would be unfit for purpose.  Councillor John stated that the failure to buy the land was a result of not getting it together in time to follow the plans of her previous administration.  Buying the land would have reduced construction time and provided outdoor sports facilities.  With restricted access to the site during the four year construction period she claimed most parents would think twice before applying for their children to attend the schools.  There were health and safety implications which meant that there was a higher risk of accidents.  A separate access and the purchase of the adjoining land would have avoided these concerns.  Instead a change of approach had been adopted with no discussion with interested parties.

It was stated that the previous administration had prioritised the rebuilding of the John Kelly Schools because they were good schools but the decision taken now to save the £5M on land purchase jeopardised the future of the schools.  It was submitted that the two Principals of the CREST academies would do all they could to make the schools a success but they had been undermined by the failure of the Council to acquire the land that had previously been promised. During a period of inaction and delay the value of the land had risen and there was now to be a period of disruption to the provision of education while the new schools were built.  The view was added that delays around progressing the development of the ARK academy had caused problems and a similar situation had arisen with the CREST academies.  This would lead to a serious position on the supply of school places if the borough had two schools which parents did not want to send their children to.

In opposition to the motion, it was pointed out that the real issue was that the owner of the land had managed to get planning permission for a change of use for the land which had increased its value greatly.  The Council therefore had the choice to continue pursuing the compulsory acquisition of the land which could have taken up to 5 years during which no new school would have been built or seek additional money from the Government during a time of financial difficulties with no guarantee the money would be forthcoming.  In the circumstances the Council had taken the only sensible option and obtained funding necessary for the re-building of the schools now. Additionally it was pointed out that the legal procedure for compulsory purchase of land allowed the owner the object to the acquisition and thereby delay the proceedings.  Studies had shown that it would be possible to build the new schools on the existing site with 50% more floorspace and some play space. It was submitted that there needed to be recognition that the Council was never going to get the adjacent land given the price being asked for it and so a workable solution was needed if the two schools were to be re-built.  It was stated that there should not be the assumption that the Government money currently available to re-build the schools would always be available and that the rebuilding of the schools should proceed now and thereby create extra capacity.

The motion in the name of the Leader of the Labour Group was put to the vote and declared LOST.