Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 Government approval for the replacement of St John's Catholic Primary School in Bath was received in December 2000. Depending on precise circumstances, the Council have the power or a duty to provide a site for the school (see 4.25). A decision is required stating the Council's preferred site and a formal offer made to the school Governors.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 the selection and offer of a site to the Governors and the progression of this project is of critical importance.

2.2 a site or sites are selected and consideration is given to the means by which the Council consults with residents in the area.

2.3 all costs associated with the design of the school are met by the Council until such time as planning permission is received.

2.4 following selection of a site the Council will do all it can to promote the scheme and emphasise the benefits of the provision of a new school in the surrounding area.

2.5 Consideration be given to offering assurances to the Governors regarding the Council's commitment to providing home to school transport.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Members are asked to note that the entire costs of constructing, furnishing and equipping the school are met by the Governors who receive a 90% grant from DfES to support the project. The remaining 10% of the cost is raised from local sources.

3.2 In December 2000 a cash limit of £1.665 million in grant aid was set by DfES. Such a sum is now wholly inadequate for the building of a modern primary school and, in situations where schemes such as this have been delayed, it is common practice for DfES to scrutinise the costs applying at the time of planned construction and, providing the scheme is regarded as value for money, make additional grant available. The likely costs of building this school exceed £3 million at 2004 prices.

3.3 The costs of bringing forward a site are to be met wholly by the Council either through the use of the `power to assist' (section 4.25 refers) or as a statutory duty. The offer of a site without planning permission cannot be regarded as a genuine offer and, therefore, the Council will need to bear the costs of all necessary design work including environmental impact assessments, and any works deemed necessary to mitigate the loss of public open space in order to facilitate the granting of planning permission to the Governors.

3.4 Expenditure by the Council on this scheme thus far amounts to £135,000.

3.5 In addition, £187,500 plus legal fees has been spent in order to purchase a property adjacent to the proposed school entrance at Lymore Avenue. The vast majority of the costs of acquiring this property is likely to be recouped regardless of whether Lymore Avenue is confirmed as the preferred site.

3.6 The Governors have also spent a Project Development Allocation of £20,000, given by DfES in 2001/02, on design work by their chosen architects, Llewellyn Harker.

3.7 It is estimated that revising existing designs and undertaking necessary additional work in relation to Lymore Avenue will cost in the region of £50 - 60,000. This needs to be added to the £135,000 mentioned in 3.4 resulting in a total LEA outlay of between £185 - 195,000.

3.8 Development of a design that is educationally acceptable, that can obtain planning permission (including any necessary work regarding environmental impact and other issues) on a site other than Lymore Avenue is estimated to cost £155,000. This is based on the figure of £135,000 already spent by the Council plus the £20,000 spent by the Governors. To this must be added the `writing-off' of the £135,000 at 3.3 making a total outlay of £290,000. It might be prudent to allow for some inflation within this figure as much of the expenditure thus far on this scheme was undertaken in the years 2001-2003 when some costs were lower. Officers believe that a figure of £310,000 is reasonable.

3.9 The relocation of St John's to a single site will generate a small revenue saving each year as the school will no longer receive a `split-site' payment in the formula. Against this must be set any possible increase or decrease in transport costs arising from the relocation. For information, at present the Council pays £33,250 per year in transport costs for St John's.

3.10 There is no capital receipt available to the Diocese as a possible contribution to construction costs or land purchase as neither of the existing St John's sites are owned by the Diocese and if vacated will revert back to the respective trustees.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 In September 2000 the Council stated, in a submission to the DfES, that the replacement of St John's Catholic Primary School in Bath was the highest priority within the voluntary aided sector in this area. Members are invited to note that the rationale behind this was that the school buildings were in poor condition, were exhibiting significant suitability concerns and, furthermore, the location of the school on two sites some two miles from each other was educationally unsound and made management of the school unnecessarily difficult.

4.2 Members are asked to note that the OFSTED inspection of July 2000 had identified several accommodation deficiencies which impact on the delivery of the curriculum and management of the school,and which could only truly be resolved by bringing together the school on a single site.

4.3 In December 2000 DfES approved, in principle, the replacement of the school as a two-form entry school offering 420 places, and allocated £20,000 to enable the Governors to develop a design. Governors appointed architectural practice Llewellyn Harker to the scheme. A construction budget of approximately £1.6 million was earmarked by DfES for release once a design had been developed and submitted for planning approval. An application for an increase in this figure is will be necessary regardless of the choice of site to reflect the significant difference in costs in 2004 by comparison with costs in 2001.

4.4 Throughout 2001, Officers undertook an examination of some potential sites and, in particular, two locations namely the existing annexe of the school at Oldfield Lane (known as St Alphege's) and a site at Lymore Avenue (also known as Brickfields).

4.5 In September 2001 the Education Committee received a report recommending that Lymore Avenue be selected as the preferred site. The Committee deferred a decision pending a visit to both sites in October. Finally, on 5 November 2001, the Education Committee agreed that Lymore Avenue was their preferred choice of site and that St Alphege's was neither deliverable nor suitable.

4.6 The selection of the Lymore Avenue site proved to be highly controversial with many letters being sent to Ward Members, petitions being raised in the area, objections to the inclusion of the site in the Draft Local Plan being received and a number of public meetings being organised by local residents.

4.7 In March 2003 the Governors and the Diocese of Clifton agreed to reduce the planned size of the school from 420 places to 315 places.

4.8 In December 2003 information regarding a by-law, which protects part of Lymore Avenue playing field, came to light. The Governors had, by this stage, submitted a planning application, but had agreed to withdraw this due to a request from planners for a more robust Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) which was required as part of the submission. The Authority was then required to examine all the issues raised by the December 2003 revelation.

4.9 On 7 April 2004 as an outcome of the North & Central Bath Area Review the Executive agreed that "The Council supports the efforts of the Governors of St John's Catholic Primary School and the Clifton Catholic Diocesan Schools Commission to replace and relocate the school to a single site" and resolved "to confirm that the replacement on a single site of St John's Catholic Primary School is essential in order to ensure that pupils are taught in satisfactory buildings with access to all necessary and desirable educational facilities and that the replacement school should offer no more than 315 places"

4.10 On the basis that development at the hitherto preferred site seemed difficult to achieve, in the period following the Executive of 7 April, Officers undertook a study looking at other potential sites for the replacement school. This identified forty two possible locations both owned and not owned by the Council which were then narrowed down to four.

4.11 It was agreed that a discussion on the merits of the four sites required wider input than simply that of Officers, Members and the school Governors. A document was therefore produced which set out the need for the development, the land requirement and the benefits and disadvantages of a number of sites and going on to identify the four locations which offered the best opportunity for development. These four sites include Lymore Avenue.

4.12 The document was placed on the Council website in mid-August and sent on request to interested parties and local Councillors (a list appears as an Appendix). However, this did not produce the level of discussion required and a summary of the document was produced for much wider distribution.

4.13 A list of homes and businesses within a 250 metre radius of the centre point of each of the four sites was drawn up. This produced a list of approximately 1250 addresses and the summary was duly dispatched to these people and organisations. A full list appears as an Appendix.

4.14 Any person who contacted the Service requesting a copy of either the summary or the larger original document was sent a copy in the post. The summary was also placed on the website.

4.15 At the time of writing 525 responses have been received. Most responses concentrated on the site or sites best known to the respondent. Many responses also recognised the difficult decision facing the Council.

4.16 The issues can be broken down into key concerns expressed by respondents or already known to the Council.

4.17 Members are asked to note that there is a proposal in the Draft Local Plan to allocate part of Lymore Avenue as `a site for primary school purposes' This proposal has resulted in a very high number of objections. This site could be removed by the Council from the emerging Plan or it may be removed following the Local Plan Inquiry due to begin in January 2005. For planning purposes however the statutory Local Plan remains the Bath Local Plan in which Lymore Avenue is safeguarded as open space. Members are asked to note that all 4 sites under consideration presents difficulties in relation to the existing Local Plan and each may generate similar high levels of objection.

4.18 Amongst the large numbers of stakeholders in this process the Governors are especially important. It is they who are responsible for ensuring high-quality educational outcomes. Throughout this prolonged process the Governors have shown their total commitment to the best outcome for the children and a clear understanding of the importance of their school as a community resource. Members are invited to acknowledge this contribution and welcome the ongoing efforts of the Governors.

4.19 Members will be aware of the asset management planning process undertaken by all Authorities. The condition, suitability and sufficiency of school buildings is considered and graded in order to assess the need for action to resolve identified problems.

4.20 Members will want to note that the condition of the school buildings on both sites gives some cause for concern and that outstanding planned maintenance shows works totalling approximately £50,000 are required. These include external decoration, roof repairs, and electrical and rewiring works. Essential is defined as `Work required within two years that will prevent serious deterioration of the fabric or services and/or address a medium risk to health and safety of occupants and/or remedy a less serious breach of legislation'.

4.21 Suitability issues which have an impact on curriculum delivery or management at the school are;

a) The school is located on 2 sites with the administrative functions and the Headteacher based at the junior site.

b) The junior site has several general suitability problems: undersized classrooms, multi-story building, no access for wheelchair users and difficult for those with impaired mobility, undersized and inaccessible library and IT suite, remote toilets, undersized staffroom. The IT suite is remote from the classrooms and IT provision in classrooms is inadequate, requiring investment.

c) The Oldfield Lane annexe comprises 3 separate temporary buildings without covered links; a shared community hall used for PE, dining and assemblies but this has no fixed equipment and poor condition floor and toilet facilities.

4.22 Members are asked to note that numbers on roll at the school have fallen considerably over the last eighteen months exacerbating the pre-existing problem of surplus places. Officers and Governors attribute this to a number of factors and the falling numbers of children overall must be part of this.

4.23 However, in the view of Officers, falling numbers of children cannot be the sole cause of this decline and that, of greater significance, are factors related entirely to the current configuration of the school on two sites, organised by Key Stages, and the continued uncertainty about the replacement site.

4.24 Despite the difficult circumstances, and St John's are not unique amongst our schools in this respect, the educational outcomes for children are very good. Results for Key Stage 2 Level 4 in 2004 are English 100%(LEA average 81%) and Maths 88%(LEA average 80%).

4.25 It is necessary to clarify the responsibilities of the Council in relation to the provision of a site. If the school moves more than two miles from its current site (thus giving rise to a statutory proposal as a `prescribed alteration' under the relevant sections of the School Standards & Framework Act 1998) then the Council simply has a `power to assist' the Governors in implementing a proposal to relocate the school. Currently neither the Diocese or Governors are able to obtain the resources necessary to acquire a site of sufficient size, suitably located and so on.

4.26 If the school moves within two miles of its current site then the Governors are not required to publish a statutory proposal and the Council has a duty to provide a site.

4.27 The legislation is unclear regarding schools with more than one site so it seems reasonable to look at distances between both existing sites and each of the four possible sites for relocation.

4.28 The distances from the main school site at Pulteney Road are as follows:

4.29 The distances from St Alphege's in Oldfield Lane are:

4.30 Thus it can be seen that only a move to the St Gregory's site would require the Council to use its `power to assist' and only then if distances are measured from the least proximate site.

4.31 The proposed relocation of the school may also have an impact on the current Review of Primary Schools in South & East Bath. Two of the potential sites (Glasshouse and St Gregory's) lie within this planning area and this has already emerged as an issue of concern amongst stakeholders within the Review. Given that St John's will continue to draw pupils from a wide area of the city of Bath and with a very limited number of unfilled places the location of the school in this area should not create new problems. The next steps, if any, in South & East Bath will be decided by the Executive on December 1 2004.

4.32 The proposed relocation may also affect the Review of Primary Schools in South & Central Bath. At the conclusion of the initial stage the Executive agreed to consult on the future of Southdown Infant and Southdown Junior schools, with a view to creating a new one-form entry school, but to take no further action in relation to amongst other schools, Moorlands Infant and Moorlands Junior.

4.33 Members should note that in the future, once the existing pupils have finished their primary education, it may be that the school begins to serve a much more local community. This might have a greater impact on adjacent schools..

4.34 Members will be aware that children are, amongst other reasons, entitled to home to school transport on the grounds of their denomination. On this basis, 22 children receive transport to St John's at present at a cost to the Council of £33,250 per annum. Five other children travel as fare-paying passengers on this transport. Relocation of the school to any of the potential sites may increase or decrease the level of financial support required.

4.35 It is reasonable to assume that, certainly in the early years following relocation when existing pupils will still be at the school, the further away the new site is from the home addresses of current pupils the greater the likely effect on the numbers entitled to home to school transport with the obvious effect on the costs to the Council.

4.36 Members are asked to note the plea of the Governors that, in light of the emerging powers of councils to make charges for school transport, the Council continue to give real financial support to home to school transport for children at St John's.

4.37 Members attention is drawn to the home addresses of the current pupils and are asked to examine this in relation to the location of the potential sites. A map showing existing sites (shown as a yellow square, potential sites, numbered (in red) as follows 1: Lymore Avenue, 2: Englishcombe Lane, 3: Glasshouse and 4: St Gregory's) and pupils homes (shown as stars) is attached as an Appendix.

4.38 Members are asked to note that an issue common to all the sites is that each will be required to be declared surplus to open space requirements and it will be necessary to prove that any open space lost can be either replaced or that the open space that remains can be improved to such an extent as to compensate for the loss. Loss of playing fields is likely to attract objections from Sport England who are a statutory consultee and may result in a `call in' of a proposal by the Government Office South West..

4.39 The technical and practical advantages and disadvantages of each of the potential sites are set out below.

4.40 The advantages of Lymore Avenue are that:

a) it is very close to the existing school site at Oldfield Lane and thus local children can continue to attend without additional travel.

b) the majority of children currently on roll live close to the site; 97 live within three quarters of a mile.

c) it is largely level which is a considerable premium in Bath.

d) there is good access to public transport.

e) There is a proposal in the emerging Draft Local Plan to allocate part of the a site for primary school purposes. However it should be noted that this allocation has resulted in a high level of objections.

f) opportunities exist for the remainder of the site to be significantly upgraded to provide additional community benefits.

4.41 The disadvantages of Lymore Avenue are;

a) Previous use as a landfill. Concerns have been raised as to the safety and stability of the ground. Initial work to establish the facts of the matter was undertaken in January 2002 and gave no reason to believe that a school could not be constructed on the site. Nevertheless, further work is probably necessary and certainly desirable.

b) High levels of traffic on surrounding roads. The Hollow and Lymore Avenue are used extensively during peak hours.

c) Loss of some part of the open space which is contrary to planning policy which seeks to safeguard Open Spaces. The school site would take approximately 40% of the total area.

d) The prominence of the site across the World Heritage Site will have implications for any development in design terms.

e) Loss of playing field which may attract objections from Sport England as a statutory consultee.

f) The existence of by-law protecting part of the field. On the instruction of the Education Service, colleagues from Property & Legal Services have sought Counsel's opinion in relation to the by-law. This legal advice can be summarised as follows:

4.42 The advantages of the Glasshouse are that;

a) it is the preferred site of the Governors as it is located close to St Peter & Paul Catholic Church which will assist in the maintenance and strengthening of the ethos of the school.

b) there are no known by-laws protecting any part of the site.

c) it is currently a school playing field and thus is not a public open space although it may be perceived as such by local residents.

d) There is good access to public transport

4.43 The disadvantages of the Glasshouse are that;

a) it is listed in the Local Plan as a `Visually Important Open Space' and as `Land of Recreational Value' Loss of open space is contrary to planning policy which seeks to safeguard Open Spaces.

b) Loss of school playing field which may attract objections from Sport England as a statutory consultee.

c) there are differences in levels which will require special attention.

d) The main road passing the site (Bradford Road) is used very heavily during peak hours and throughout the day.

e) the site is used as Culverhay School playing fields and is also used by Old Culverhaysians Rugby Club. Use of the site for the replacement school may mean that there is a need for the Rugby Club to relocate and it will also reduce playing field provision for Culverhay School to below that required by legislation. The school will obviously need to be consulted.

f) the site is a considerable distance from the homes of the majority of current pupils, only 29 pupils live within three quarters of a mile. As a result there would almost certainly be additional costs for the transport of children to the school particularly children under 8 living more than 2 miles from the school.

4.44 The advantages of Englishcombe Lane are;

a) the site is close to the existing site at Oldfield Lane and thus local children can continue to attend without additional travel.

b) the majority of children currently on roll live close to the site; 110 live within three quarters of a mile.

c) there is good access to public transport

4.45 The disadvantages of Englishcombe Lane are that;

a) the site is listed in the Local Plan as "Visually Important Open Space". It also lies within the City of Bath Conservation Area. Loss of open space is contrary is planning policy which seeks to safeguard open spaces.

b) the land is sloping and will present additional difficulties in construction and site layout.

c) The site is immediately adjoining Moorlands Infant / Moorlands Junior School.

d) The proposal may attract objections from Sport England

e) Englishcombe Lane and other surrounding roads are very well used during peak travelling hours.

f) a by-law( made under the Public Health Act 1875) protects the site. As with Lymore Avenue this will not prevent development as with Lymore Avenue(see 4.41) there will be delays associated with this, lasting possibly up to one year.

4.46 The advantages of the St Gregory's site are;

a) The site has no designation in the current Local Plan.

b) the site adjoins St Gregory's Catholic College to which a high proportion of the current Year 6 pupils from St John's transfer and this may facilitate closer working. For example, in September 2004 St Gregory's received 87% of the Year 6 from St John's and in September 2003 approximately 70% made the same transisition.

c) There is good access to public transport.

4.47 The disadvantages of the St Gregory's site are;

a) the site is a considerable distance from the homes of the majority of current pupils; only 29 live within three quarters of a mile. As a result there would almost certainly be additional costs for the transport of children to the school particularly children under 8 living more than 2 miles from the school.

b) use of this site will necessitate the separation of St Gregory's from its playing field and creation of a new playing field and changing rooms for that school. This is educationally undesirable as pupils will lose learning time walking to the playing field and is also likely to be achieved only at considerable expense.

c) the site is designated in the emerging Local Plan as "Visually Important Open Space" and as "Land of Recreational Value". Loss of open space is contrary is planning policy which seeks to safeguard open spaces.

d) use of this site would restrict any growth of St Gregory's. This is an important consideration in light of the national `Building Schools for the Future' programme which is a Government initiative which aims to rebuild or refurbish all secondary schools in England over the next 15 years..

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

6 RATIONALE

6.1 The prolonged delay in progressing this scheme is creating additional problems for the school and adding to the uncertainty for children, parents / carers, staff and Governors and making longer term planning for all these stakeholders extremely difficult.

6.2 The costs of design work, purchase of any property (should this be necessary) and the undertaking of environmental impact assessments in order to facilitate the granting of planning permission are a small proportion of the costs that would be incurred were the Council implementing the scheme. The outcome will be the provision of high quality facilities for children in Bath & North East Somerset whom the Council is responsible for educating and will be a major improvement in the environment for learning, which is a key Council priority.

6.3 The legitimate concerns of residents surrounding each site as to traffic or other environmental impact deserves close attention. The Council and elected Members are ideally placed to communicate with residents the substantial potential benefits of the provision of this new community resource in a particular area.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 Several other options have been considered, The offer of a site at Western Riverside was considered but the timescale for that development is such that the school would be waiting for replacement for a further four or five years and was regarded as unreasonable given that four years have passed since the initial approval of the scheme. In addition, the Western Riverside development is likely to be of such size as to require that 363 new primary school places be provided for new residents. The relocation of St John's at a reduced size of 315 places would, on the basis of its current numbers on roll, leave approximately 50 places available for new residents.

7.2 Suggesting a merger of the school with St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Weston was considered. This was rejected as St Mary's and St John's combined numbers on roll would exceed the desirable maximum size for a primary school and, furthermore there is no obvious space on the St Mary's site where additional buildings could be located.

7.3 Closure of the school was considered but rejected as there is a demand for a Catholic Primary School in Bath which could not be met without the retention of the school. Furthermore, our partners at the Diocese of Clifton are unlikely to agree a further reduction in the number of Catholic places available in the area (see 4.7).

7.4 Building the new school on either of the existing St John's school sites in has been considered but neither is large enough for a 315 place school.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 1250 copies of a summary document attached as Appendix were distributed in the immediate area surrounding each potential site.