Holyport College
As of June 2015 the funding of Holyport College continues to cause controversy. A facebook page has been set up by residents concerned that RBWM does not treat all schools as generously as they do Holyport College. The following button will take you to that page.
As of June 2015 the funding of Holyport College continues to cause controversy. A facebook page has been set up by residents concerned that RBWM does not treat all schools as generously as they do Holyport College. The following button will take you to that page.
Letter from Steve Lumb of Holyport Road published in the Advertiser on 28th February 2013
Free school has come at cost to council tax-payer
It appears Cllr Dudley (Viewpoint February 21) has misconstrued my letter about the potential value of the Holyport Manor site to RBWM council tax-payers. At no point did I suggest that the land could have been developed for housing.
It was always the plan that the site was going to continue to be used for educational purposes. Other bids were received by the Council with a plan to create educational establishments. At least one of these would have entailed the bidder buying the site. This goes against the assertion by Cllr Dudley that the new Holyport College has come at no cost to RBWM council tax payers.
The decision to give the site to Holyport College was made behind closed doors. No information can be gleaned on how this decision was made, other than that of all the bids received Holyport College came out at the top of the criteria based scoring system. The Council has refused to release the details of the scoring on the basis of confidentiality.
Once the free school was approved by the DfE there was a presumption that, under the Academies Act 2010 and the Education Act 2011, the DfE would expect the Council to lease the site to the Free School. I find this presumption surprising in that a decision as important as this was apparently taken out of the hands of our elected representatives.
I still find it disturbing that in the current economic climate, the government is funding the creation of a completely unnecessary state boarding school. It will make Holyport College the most expensive Free School ever approved by the DfE. To put this into context, Bristol Free School had previously been the recipient of the largest funding (based on current published figures). Their year 7 intake is planned to be 150 compared to 20 day school pupils at Holyport College. Shame on you Mr Gove.
Peter Janikoun, a Bray Parish Councillor, commented on Don't build on Holyport's Green Belt - keep Holyport a village's link.
Peter wrote:
"The Bray Parish Council emphatically does not reject the Holyport College concept. The traffic study is riddled with logical flaws and needs to be looked at again. There could be many possible solutions to the problem to ensure the safety of our children attending the college. Other parts of the plans also need to be looked at again; it appears that the governors of the Holyport College have accepted their developer's reports without any examination. Bray Council wants to enter a dialogue with sensible people to improve the quality of education offered to our children (and grandchildren) through this college and elsewhere."
Chris Graham, Chairman of the Bray Parish Council wrote in the Maidenhead Advertiser of 28th March 2013
Plans for free school must be improved first
BRAY Parish Council fully supports the development of a Free School on the Holyport Manor site.
Our decision to recommend rejection of the planning application to RBWM was based on the fact that management of traffic on and off the site and along the A330 had not been properly addressed.
This decision was taken at a public meeting of the Bray Parish Council planning committee where the agenda had been published in advance, members of the public attended and spoke and the press were present.
While these significant traffic issues were the basis on which we recommended refusal, there were several other areas of concern expressed by councillors at the meeting including, sewage disposal, water and power supply, together with issues of inadequate provision for disabled students raised by members of the public.
We have an obligation to ensure that Holyport College is implemented well. So, very far from 'ruining the lives of children in the borough', the objective. of Bray Parish Council is to ensure this development delivers the best possible outcome for students attending the school, staff working on the site, parents accessing the site, commuters and local residents.
It would be a travesty of democracy if this planning application were to be approved by Maidenhead development control panel on April 10 without addressing these many issues.
Very few developments of this size and scale are approved at the first attempt. A refusal would give all sides an opportunity to discuss ways in which the proposal can be improved.
I call on Cllr Dudley to withdraw unreservedly the remarks he made about Bray Parish Council through a full public apology and to support the work necessary to make this application fit for purpose. Maybe then we can move forward to achieve our joint objective:
CHRIS GRAHAM Chairman . Bray Parish Council
Kate Sheehan wrote in the Maidenhead Advertiser of 28th March 2013
How many local children will benefit from school?
I WOULD like the opportunity to respond to Cllr Dudley's letter in last week's Viewpoint.
The parish council meeting was an open meeting and Cllr Dudley could have attended and had the opportunity to speak for three minutes like the other attendees. However, he would not have been in a position to be part of the discussion as he will be acutely aware this is not part of the meeting terms of reference.
Cllr Dudley states the school will 'transform the life opportunities for a few of those children'.
How few? Can we please have the numbers of how many of the 245 boarders will be in this category? Cllr Dudley talks about 'local authorities' - does this indicate these places will not be exclusively for RBWM residents?
The decision made by the council was made behind closed doors, there was no transparency. Why can the residents of the RBWM not know how the final decision was made?
KATE SHEEHAN Thurlby Way Maidenhead
Andrew Cormie's objection to the proposed college, sent to RBWM Planning Department
I object to the proposed college on the basis that RBWM have given it an unfair advantage, depriving ratepayers of income, and that both during its construction and operation it would cause great increase in traffic on our already overloaded roads.
Many people have made objections to the proposed hospital at M4 Junction 8/9, and indeed Councillors Burbage, Walters and Coppinger have objected to its imposition in their letter to the Maidenhead Advertiser on 21st February, which can be seen here http://www.holyportresidentsassociation.org/lee-hospital.html saying "We would point out the A308/A330 roads are already overloaded particularly at peak times. To introduce all the different hospital locations (11 in all) shown on the map in the booklet the ‘Future Healthcare Plan’ - including Hillingdon, Wycombe, Marlow, Wexham Park, Reading, Bracknell, Heatherwood etc on just one location is unrealistic."
I note with satisfaction that our three RBWM Bray ward councillors recognise that the A330 is already overloaded particularly at peak times, and I look forward to seeing RBWM Planning Department and these aforementioned Councillors reject this proposed college application on that basis.
Please ensure that you and RBWM councillors consider carefully the effects of traffic increase from ALL likely sources. There are many possible sources of additional traffic that could cause harm to Holyport's already overcrowded roads. E.g. Hospital - More housing near or in Holyport - Proposed college - New houses near Bracknell - Crossrail project. The latter at least, will definitely proceed and I will want to see evidence that the projected traffic from that is taken account of together with traffic arising from the proposed college.
Free school has come at cost to council tax-payer
It appears Cllr Dudley (Viewpoint February 21) has misconstrued my letter about the potential value of the Holyport Manor site to RBWM council tax-payers. At no point did I suggest that the land could have been developed for housing.
It was always the plan that the site was going to continue to be used for educational purposes. Other bids were received by the Council with a plan to create educational establishments. At least one of these would have entailed the bidder buying the site. This goes against the assertion by Cllr Dudley that the new Holyport College has come at no cost to RBWM council tax payers.
The decision to give the site to Holyport College was made behind closed doors. No information can be gleaned on how this decision was made, other than that of all the bids received Holyport College came out at the top of the criteria based scoring system. The Council has refused to release the details of the scoring on the basis of confidentiality.
Once the free school was approved by the DfE there was a presumption that, under the Academies Act 2010 and the Education Act 2011, the DfE would expect the Council to lease the site to the Free School. I find this presumption surprising in that a decision as important as this was apparently taken out of the hands of our elected representatives.
I still find it disturbing that in the current economic climate, the government is funding the creation of a completely unnecessary state boarding school. It will make Holyport College the most expensive Free School ever approved by the DfE. To put this into context, Bristol Free School had previously been the recipient of the largest funding (based on current published figures). Their year 7 intake is planned to be 150 compared to 20 day school pupils at Holyport College. Shame on you Mr Gove.
Peter Janikoun, a Bray Parish Councillor, commented on Don't build on Holyport's Green Belt - keep Holyport a village's link.
Peter wrote:
"The Bray Parish Council emphatically does not reject the Holyport College concept. The traffic study is riddled with logical flaws and needs to be looked at again. There could be many possible solutions to the problem to ensure the safety of our children attending the college. Other parts of the plans also need to be looked at again; it appears that the governors of the Holyport College have accepted their developer's reports without any examination. Bray Council wants to enter a dialogue with sensible people to improve the quality of education offered to our children (and grandchildren) through this college and elsewhere."
Chris Graham, Chairman of the Bray Parish Council wrote in the Maidenhead Advertiser of 28th March 2013
Plans for free school must be improved first
BRAY Parish Council fully supports the development of a Free School on the Holyport Manor site.
Our decision to recommend rejection of the planning application to RBWM was based on the fact that management of traffic on and off the site and along the A330 had not been properly addressed.
This decision was taken at a public meeting of the Bray Parish Council planning committee where the agenda had been published in advance, members of the public attended and spoke and the press were present.
While these significant traffic issues were the basis on which we recommended refusal, there were several other areas of concern expressed by councillors at the meeting including, sewage disposal, water and power supply, together with issues of inadequate provision for disabled students raised by members of the public.
We have an obligation to ensure that Holyport College is implemented well. So, very far from 'ruining the lives of children in the borough', the objective. of Bray Parish Council is to ensure this development delivers the best possible outcome for students attending the school, staff working on the site, parents accessing the site, commuters and local residents.
It would be a travesty of democracy if this planning application were to be approved by Maidenhead development control panel on April 10 without addressing these many issues.
Very few developments of this size and scale are approved at the first attempt. A refusal would give all sides an opportunity to discuss ways in which the proposal can be improved.
I call on Cllr Dudley to withdraw unreservedly the remarks he made about Bray Parish Council through a full public apology and to support the work necessary to make this application fit for purpose. Maybe then we can move forward to achieve our joint objective:
CHRIS GRAHAM Chairman . Bray Parish Council
Kate Sheehan wrote in the Maidenhead Advertiser of 28th March 2013
How many local children will benefit from school?
I WOULD like the opportunity to respond to Cllr Dudley's letter in last week's Viewpoint.
The parish council meeting was an open meeting and Cllr Dudley could have attended and had the opportunity to speak for three minutes like the other attendees. However, he would not have been in a position to be part of the discussion as he will be acutely aware this is not part of the meeting terms of reference.
Cllr Dudley states the school will 'transform the life opportunities for a few of those children'.
How few? Can we please have the numbers of how many of the 245 boarders will be in this category? Cllr Dudley talks about 'local authorities' - does this indicate these places will not be exclusively for RBWM residents?
The decision made by the council was made behind closed doors, there was no transparency. Why can the residents of the RBWM not know how the final decision was made?
KATE SHEEHAN Thurlby Way Maidenhead
Andrew Cormie's objection to the proposed college, sent to RBWM Planning Department
I object to the proposed college on the basis that RBWM have given it an unfair advantage, depriving ratepayers of income, and that both during its construction and operation it would cause great increase in traffic on our already overloaded roads.
Many people have made objections to the proposed hospital at M4 Junction 8/9, and indeed Councillors Burbage, Walters and Coppinger have objected to its imposition in their letter to the Maidenhead Advertiser on 21st February, which can be seen here http://www.holyportresidentsassociation.org/lee-hospital.html saying "We would point out the A308/A330 roads are already overloaded particularly at peak times. To introduce all the different hospital locations (11 in all) shown on the map in the booklet the ‘Future Healthcare Plan’ - including Hillingdon, Wycombe, Marlow, Wexham Park, Reading, Bracknell, Heatherwood etc on just one location is unrealistic."
I note with satisfaction that our three RBWM Bray ward councillors recognise that the A330 is already overloaded particularly at peak times, and I look forward to seeing RBWM Planning Department and these aforementioned Councillors reject this proposed college application on that basis.
Please ensure that you and RBWM councillors consider carefully the effects of traffic increase from ALL likely sources. There are many possible sources of additional traffic that could cause harm to Holyport's already overcrowded roads. E.g. Hospital - More housing near or in Holyport - Proposed college - New houses near Bracknell - Crossrail project. The latter at least, will definitely proceed and I will want to see evidence that the projected traffic from that is taken account of together with traffic arising from the proposed college.