What Our Councillors have been saying about Stockton Heath Issues!

PRESS RELEASE - Invest more in Children's Early Years

4th January 2005

Liberal Democrats are calling for the Chancellor to spend his Child Trust Fund money where it matters most by investing in children’s early years. Councillor Ian Marks the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Warrington South says, “Expert opinion confirms what common sense tells us. Children well-taught and well-cared for in their early years have a far better chance of living fulfilled and rewarding lives. The Government’s Child Trust Fund by contrast delivers few real benefits. It is expensive and would cost about £1¼ billion. We would use this money to improve early years’ support. This means reducing class sizes for our youngest children and setting up Early Years Centres to provide better health, education and family support for every child – when it counts. Here in parts of Warrington we have the Sure Start schemes which we support, but in many places in the country there is virtually no co-ordinated support for struggling parents until children start school. These Centres would be of benefit to both young children and their parents. Our youngsters would be provided with the basic skills to get the most out of education later on. At the same time their mums and dads would be given the skills to cope with the pressures and frustrations of parenting.”

 

PRESS RELEASE - Bringing the Council Closer to the People

11 January 2005

Liberal Democrats want to bring the Council closer to the people it serves by setting up Area Committees. Deputy Opposition Leader Councillor Celia Jordan told a meeting of the full Council, “Setting up Area Committees has long been part of our policy and has appeared in several of our election manifestos. It chimes with our principle of making decisions at the lowest possible level. Area Committees have been a great success in many other towns and have been a way of involving more people in issues that affect their communities. They would complement and work closely with Parish Councils. We are pleased that the Labour Group is now looking seriously at this idea. The Police have recently announced a move towards four neighbourhood Policing Units in the town based on geographic blocks and this is a move in the same direction.”

 

Residents may halt £3m work at primary school

From the Guardian Series, first published Friday 18th Feb 2005.

PUBLIC opinion could halt a multi-million pound new school development in a Warrington village, before it has even begun. Stockton Heath Primary School has been given more than £3million to build a new school in the village. But residents have said they don't want a new building.

Instead, they are calling on the borough council to refurbish the existing school building to make it suitable for the 21st century.

Clr Celia Jordan said: "There is a groundswell of public opinion that the existing building should stay. There is evidence that there is a Roman road under the school so, before anything is done, the site needs to be excavated.

"We are also hoping to get the building listed, which would prevent any work being done on the building without proper permission."

Parents, governors and residents lobbied education chiefs at a special meeting on Friday, February 4 at Bridgewater High School.

Following the meeting, Malcolm Roxburgh, strategic director of education, told the Guardian the council had not ruled out refurbishing the existing school building.

He said: "We are considering a number of options for the future of Stockton Heath Primary School.

"The full replacement of the school and the extension and refurbishment of the existing building are two of those options and, at this stage, we would not rule out either one of these.

"We appreciate and value the views of parents and the school community as we develop plans for the site, however, first and foremost we have to consider the children and their education.

"We want to avoid disruption to their learning as much as we possibly can and make the right decision for both the short and long term future.

PRESS RELEASE - Keep Options open for Stockton Heath Primary School

14 March 2005

Liberal Democrats are calling on the Council to keep options open for the future of Stockton Heath Primary School. £3.1m has been received from the Government for a new School and a further £0.8m has been allocated by Warrington Council. The Council’s preferred option is for a complete new school which will minimise disruption to classes when the construction work is taking place. Local Councillor Celia Jordan says, “At a public meeting a few weeks ago, it was quite clear that a large number of parents would prefer to re-use part of the existing building for the new school. Feelings are running very high because people are very attached to the old building and see it as part of the village’s heritage. I have asked Warrington Borough Council to look at both these options in parallel. It is important that the Council respects the views of local residents and parents. We are pleased that the School and the Council intend to have full consultation with parents and residents as things develop.” Councillor Ian Marks, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Warrington South added, “I attended the public meeting too and I’m sure the strong reaction from the audience surprised both the Council Officers and the School. There are real concerns about whether £3.9m is enough money to do the job properly. There is also a big question about the future of the pre-school nursery ‘Little Lot’ which has yet to be answered. I understand that no funding is yet available for this.”

 

PRESS RELEASE - Labour failing Town's Primary Children

10 April 2005

The Liberal Democrats have condemned the finding that one in five children leaving primary school cannot read. A report from the Education Select Committee has found an unacceptably high level of children have failed to reach the required standards of reading. Councillor Ian Marks, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Warrington South said, “These figures are a great disappointment. We believe that access to a quality education is a fundamental right of every child. Our focus is on providing every child with a quality local school. It is clear that the Labour Government is letting down young people in Warrington. We want to lower infant class sizes to 20 and for juniors to 25. We will provide over 20,000 more teachers who will have more time with every child to bring out the best in them. The Lib Dems believe everyone should have the opportunity to make the best of their talents. The money to fund lower primary school sizes will come from abandoning the Chancellor’s £1.5 billion Child Trust Fund. These ‘baby bonds’ are just a cash windfall to 18 year olds at taxpayers expense. Children in Warrington will gain far more benefit from spending this money when it matters most, so every child gets the best possible start at school.”

PRESS RELEASE - Commitment on New School Design

7 October 2005

Warrington Council has given assurances that the new Primary School in Stockton heath will be in keeping with the surroundings. This commitment was given to Councillor Celia Jordan in response to a question she raised at a meeting of the Council. Cllr Jordan said, “Many people in the village are still unhappy at the decision to build a new school rather than refurbish the existing one. We must have an archaeological survey to make sure that any historic relics can be saved. The buildings must be of high quality and fit in well with the surrounding residential area. I’m reassured that the Council will produce a full planning brief for the site and will build the school to the highest standards.” In a consultation survey carried out by the Council, 70% of the respondents favoured a new school rather than refurbishment.

PRESS RELEASE - Lib Dems demand sympathetic design for School

9 Nov 2005

Liberal Democrats are calling for big changes to the design for the new Primary School in Stockton Heath. They claim the currently proposed design looks more like a retail warehouse. Leader of the town’s Lib Dems, Cllr Ian Marks, says, “The new building must be sympathetic to the locality and one that local people will be proud of. We know many local people are very fond of the current school and it’s a great shame it must be demolished. Warrington has precious few buildings that are part of its historic heritage. Where possible, we should be incorporating facets of the current building into the new one to provide links with the past. The decision to rebuild the school was made by Warrington Borough Council’s Executive Board which consists of ten Labour members with no Lib Dem presence or influence on it. The new procedures for decision making in local government make it much more difficult for the opposition to oppose decisions. Sadly one of our very active Lib Dem Parish Councillors felt he had to resign because he thought the Parish Council should have campaigned against this decision. Ideally the new school would have been built on a new site nearby so that the existing building could have been retained and used for another purpose. Unfortunately no suitable site is available on the Stockton Heath side of the Canal and building on the north side is too far away for young children from the village. Liberal Democrats share the view of teachers and educationalists that the current school is not of an acceptable standard for today’s children. To use the jargon, it is not ‘fit for purpose’. We owe it to the children and parents of Stockton Heath families both today and in future generations to provide them with the best possible school to maximise their opportunities. It was my colleague Councillor Celia Jordan who put pressure on the Council to seriously look at the option of extending and rebuilding the existing school because we hoped this would provide the solution. Unfortunately it turned out this would have been extremely disruptive for the children over a period of up to two years. It would have cost half a million pounds more and this money would not have been available to spend on other schools in the town. Now that the decision has been made, I urge local residents to support us when the planning application is submitted, by fighting for a quality design we can all be proud of.”

 

LETTER TO WARRINGTON GUARDIAN - Stockton Heath Primary School

21 November 2005

Dear Editor Last week you published an open letter to me and the local MP about the proposal to replace Stockton Heath Primary School. The decision to rebuild was made by Warrington Borough Council’s Executive Board which consists of ten Labour members with no Liberal Democrat presence on it. The alternative option of rebuilding and extending the existing school was first put forward by parents and it was my colleague, Councillor Celia Jordan, who put pressure on Warrington Council to seriously look at both options. We hoped this alternative would have provided the best solution. Unfortunately the review showed that the refurbishment option would have been extremely disruptive for the children over a period of up to two years. It would have cost half a million pounds more and this money would not have been available to spend on other schools in the town. We know that many people are very fond of the current school and it is a great shame it must be demolished. Warrington has precious few buildings of note that are part of its historic heritage. The currently proposed design for a new school is not acceptable and we will be fighting for a quality building that will be a credit to the village. We urge local residents to support us when the planning application is made. Yours sincerely Councillor Ian Marks Leader, Lib Dem Group, Warrington BC

 

School row continues

From the Warrington Guardian archive, first published Tuesday 22nd Aug 2006.

STOCKTON Heath Primary School sparked strong views at the borough council planning committee weeks before a vote on its future is even due.

The historic school has survived one plan to demolish and replace it after a massive campaign by parents and residents.

But the borough council's executive board has decided to have another go because it believes the current building is too run down.

Councillors on the planning committee, who will again make the decision, looked ahead to the vote at Wednesday night's meeting.

Clr George Warburton was angry the second plan had been put forward so soon.

"To me, this is a sign that the executive board wish to get this through irrespective of what was decided," said Clr Warburton, a Labour member for Penketh.

"And very, very quickly, there's a decision to overrule that decision, and to me, that's completely undemocratic."

Clr Warburton said if people wanted to demolish the school, they should visit Oxford and Cambridge Universities, see how old their buildings are and see what education they give'.

Clr Celia Jordan, the committee chairman, said a site visit should be organised ahead of the vote to save delaying the decision.

Members also asked if they would be able to recommend refurbishing the school rather than demolishing and rebuilding it, and were advised that was not in their power.

This field has cost YOU £150k - at least

From the Warrington Guardian archive, first published Thursday 7th Sep 2006.

A SAGA of spiralling legal costs and unreasonable' council behaviour has been played out - leaving the taxpayer with a total bill of at least £150,000.

The losing battle against a 200-home housing development in Lymm started in 1999 but the affair has only just come to a close.

The council fought long and hard against the plan, right up to several high court hearings.

But it lost to the landowner and developers and was saddled with legal bills - and was strongly criticised because councillors went against the advice of their officers.

The Government inspector said council objections were not supported by analysis or reasoning' and that the council's refusal amounted to unreasonable behaviour'.

The council has had to pay Taylor Woodrow £91,733 in costs, on top of its own £17,716 expenditure. In 2002 it had to pay almost £50,000 costs to former landowner Harry Rowlinson over the outline planning application.

Mr Rowlinson said: "It is unfortunate that the council, supported by members from the main opposition parties, chose not to take the advice of its officers and legal advisors and there have been considerable costs awards, not to mention the council's own planning and legal costs."

Clr Celia Jordan, chairman of the current planning committee, said: "It demonstrates how careful we should be with our deliberations. This is the cost of democracy."

The 214 homes are in the process of being built on Longbutt Lane. Half are affordable homes with a starting price of £164,000 set by Manchester and District Housing Association.

The detailed planning was refused in November 2004, then granted on appeal in November 2005.

A spokesman for Taylor Woodrow said: "We pursued our planning application because we fully held the belief throughout that we had proposed a fantastic scheme that excelled in all aspects."

Clr Sheila Woodwyatt, from Lymm, was one of the lead campaigners against the homes. She said: "We did our best but they have totally destroyed the field. I am very sad but the council has been wonderful in trying to save our fields.

The developers say, come to this wonderful, rural area of Lymm'. "Well it's not rural anymore, it's suburban."