Thursday 24 January 2013

Council reveal their hand. It's far worse than we thought

The Council revealed their plans last night at a meeting for Strathmore Parents.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are far more extensive than revealed previously

They appear to propose selling something like 25% of Russell land to developers and building a two storey building, as well as selling all of Strathmore to developers

They also propose making The Russell School a two form entry

Twice as many children plus all of Strathmore's children (and they are also increasing Strathmore numbers) on an area just 75% of the current Russell School site.

It is a disgrace. Please let them know we will not stand for it by voicing your opposition here.

Needless to say, this is the only place you can see these plans - the Council are not putting them on line

Planned Development (click image to enlarge). The land the Council wants to sell to developers are the large block on the Meadlands Drive side of the school and the Strathmore site on the left of the picture.


Current School Footprint (Click to Enlarge)










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3 comments:

  1. Matthew Rees28 January 2013 at 01:55

    Typically the survey only asks about the provision and says nothing about the site. I have no problems with more/better SEN provision or, if the demand is there, the enlargement of The Russell, but I am firmly against reducing the the size of the site, even if the numbers were not increasing. Ham is defined by its open spaces and semi-rural feel and we should protect this.

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  2. Richard Morris28 January 2013 at 02:06

    Thank you Matthew - yes, that is the position of most parents. We are all for better facilities, but it shouldn't be - and doesn't need to be - funded by selling the land. For example the Priority School Building fund is designed for exactly this purpose and could be used to refurbish and rebuild all the current buildings, without losing any of the footprint of the site.

    The Councils survey appears to me to be designed to get just one answer - and fails to fully inform parents about just what they intend to do. I think it is a cynical manipulation of parents and local residents

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  3. Richard Morris28 January 2013 at 02:42

    By the way Matthew, if you'd like regular update son the campaign, do drop us an e mail at parentsinpetersham@gmail.com and we'll keep you up to date

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