Meeting documents

            Meeting: Cabinet (County Hall, Durham - Committee Room 2 - 26/03/2009 10:00:00 AM)

                  Item: A9 School Organisation: The Outcome of Consultations on the Proposal to Replace the Esh Winning Primary School Building with a New Build School

         

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Report of David Williams, Corporate Director, Children and Young People's Services [Cabinet Portfolio Member for Children's Services, Councillor C Vasey]

Purpose of the Report

1 To present the outcomes of consultation on the proposal to replace the existing school building at Esh Winning with a new build school, to comment on those responses, and to seek a decision on the site for the location of the new building.

Background

2 At its meeting on 31 July 2008, Cabinet approved the report entitled “School Capital Programme - Modernisation Budget Review 2003/04 - 2007/08; 5 Year Programme 2008/09 - 2012/13”. Included within the 5 Year Programme 2012/2013 was a proposal for a new build school for Esh Winning to replace the existing school building.

3 A consultation document was prepared. A copy is attached as Annex 1. The documents were placed in schools and made available to parents, staff and the wider community in the week commencing 1 December 2008. An information sharing meeting for parents and the wider community was held at the school on 8 December 2008 and a meeting for Governors and Staff was held on 15 December 2008. Local Ward Members were also consulted. The consultation document requested written comments by 9 January 2009. Copies of responses received by the due date have been placed in the Cabinet Office and Members’ Library. They include responses provided by pupils of Esh Winning Primary School who completed a Pupil Response Form.

The Proposal For Esh Winning

4 The proposal is to replace the current Esh Winning Primary School with a new build school with a capacity for 210 pupils aged 4-11 and a 39 place Local Authority maintained nursery unit. Currently, the school is split-site with a public library and community facilities also being located on one site and the Esh Winning Eco-Learning (EWE) Centre being located on the other site.
5 A Project Board has been established to ensure the needs of all users are incorporated into the design. The design of the school will be such that a Library would be available to both the school and the community and appropriate access points will be provided to enable this to happen. Other school facilities required to be used by the community will be fully accessible at appropriate times. The EWE Centre will be located on the same site as the proposed new school.

6 The proposal will address condition and suitability issues which exist at the current school, will remove the split-site arrangement and create a school of an appropriate size for the forecast numbers of pupils in the future.

Potential Sites

7 There are two possible sites for the new build - the existing school site and open space in the centre of the village. Attached as Annex 2 is a map of the village which highlights the position of both sites.

8 Both of the sites are large enough for new build facilities referred to in paragraph 5. The open space in the centre of the village is 17,928 square metres; the existing school site is 34,150 square metres. The size of the site required is approximately 13,600 square metres.

9 At the time of consultation, detailed site investigations had not been carried out to ascertain whether they would be suitable to be built on. These site investigations have now been carried out and results show that there are no reasons why either site cannot be developed.

10 There are advantages and disadvantages to both sites as demonstrated in the tables below: Responses to the Consultation

11 230 responses to the consultation have been received, including 168 from pupils of Esh Winning Primary School who completed the Pupil Response Form produced by the School Organisation and Capital Projects Team in Children and Young People’s Services.

12 The 168 responses received from pupils can be broken down as follows:

· 114 were in favour of a new build school:
- 83 expressed a wish for it to be built on the existing site;
- 20 had no preference for where it should be built;
- 11 wished it to built on the open space in the middle of the village;
· 36 were opposed to a new school being built;
· 18 did not express a firm view.

13 The 62 Reponses received from respondents other than pupils are as follows:

· 47 in favour of a new school being built on the existing site;
· 8 in favour of a new school being built on the open space in the middle of the village.
· 5 were opposed to a new build school.
· 2 expressed no firm view.

14 The main reasons submitted by those respondents wishing the school to be built on the existing site can be summarised as follows:

· the existing site provides greater opportunities for outdoor learning than the site in the middle of the village ;
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· the existing site can more easily accommodate the traffic generated by library, community and EWE Centre users which would consequently avoid adding to the congestion in the middle of the village;
· building on the existing site would preserve the area of green space in the village;
· the existing site is much larger than the open space in the middle of the village and therefore offers greater potential for school and outdoor provision to enhance learning.

15 The main reasons submitted by those respondents wishing for the school to be built on the open space in the middle of village can be summarised as follows:

· it is more accessible for residents, particularly those living in Hamsteels previously served by Hamsteels Primary School;
· there would be less chance of the new school being vandalised as it would be located near to houses.

Recommendations

16 Cabinet is asked to note the responses to consultation and to give approval for a new school to be built.

17 Cabinet is also asked to note the advantages and disadvantages of the two possible sites and decide whether the new school should be built on:

(i) the existing school site;

or

(ii) the green space in the centre of the village.

Background Papers

School Capital Programme - Modernisation Budget Review 2003/2004 - 2007/2008; 5 Year Programme 2008/2009 - 2012/2013.

Contact: Graeme Plews Ext: 3199 AI/SOCP/SP/ALA/Outcome of Consultation Esh Winning Primary

Appendix 1: Implications

Local Government Review None. Finance The cost of the new build will be approximately £7.3 million to be paid for from the Primary Capital Programme. Staffing None. Equality and Diversity Equality and Diversity will be addressed by the school being fully accessible to pupils from Esh Winning, Hamsteels and Waterhouses. Accommodation The new building will provide enhanced facilities to benefit pupils, teachers and the communities of Esh Winning, Hamsteels and Waterhouses. Crime and Disorder None. Sustainability The building will be sustainable in accordance with national guidelines for sustainability but also providing sustainable education provision. Human Rights All pupils have a right to be educated in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on Children’s Rights. Localities and Rurality There are implications for the communities of Esh Winning, Hamsteels and Waterhouses. Young People This decision will have a direct impact on young people. Consultation Consultation has been undertaken with the Local Members for Deerness Valley and Esh, pupils, parents, staff, Governors and the wider community. Health The health of pupils should be improved as the new building will include enhanced dining and PE facilities.

To view main report, please refer to PDF attachment or Hard Copies Located in the Record Office or Corporate Services.

Attachments

 Outcome of Consultation Esh Winning Primary.pdf