D-day looms for Oakhurst school plan (From Swindon Advertiser)

D-day looms for Oakhurst school plan

11:30am Monday 9th March 2009 in News

THE final hurdle for north Swindon’s newest primary school could be cleared this week.

An application to build Oakhurst Primary School in Pioneer Road will be put to councillors at tomorrow’s planning committee meeting.

If the application is granted it will bring to an end the saga surrounding the school, which local residents have spent years campaigning for.

In February it was announced that Swindon Council would run the new school, despite a rival bid by an Islamic education centre to run it as a faith school.

The Al Habib Islamic Centre failed to win the contract to run Oakhurst Primary School, after the council’s bid was judged as stronger by the Schools Adjudicator, which said there was more support for a community school than an Islamic one.

If all goes to plan the school could open its doors in September 2010, in time for the new school year.

Residents and councillors are united in their support of the application, but there is an objection from Haydon Wick Parish Council.

Coun Stephen Pike, from the parish council, said: “We do not have any objection in principle to there being a school on the site. What we have an objection to is the lack of traffic management.

“The roads in the area are not very good. The access is very poor and there is insufficient parking for parents to drop off and pick up their children.

“The proposal is aspirational and assumes that everyone will be walking their darling children to school.

“That is just not realistic in this day and age.

“We would like better traffic management and allow for the fact that people take their kids to school by car.”

Local parent, Richard Kirk, who plans to send his two children to the school, said: “I have supported the council’s bid from day one, and think it was absolutely the right decision.

“I don’t see any problem with this getting through planning. No local residents that I know of have raised any objections.”

Mr Kirk said he did not see any reason why the school would create traffic problems.

He said: “The whole point is that local parents don’t have to drive to schools outside the area. At the moment parents from Oakhurst are driving to schools all over Swindon.”

Charmaine Oztas, who also hopes to send her four-year old daughter to the school, said: “It’s fantastic news but I’m still not 100 per cent assured because information about the school has been very slow coming.”

Coun Justin Tomlinson (Con, Abbey Meads) said: “We have been working with local residents throughout this process to secure this much-needed school. This is the final hurdle that must be cleared and I am confident that it will be successful.”

The application will be discussed by the planning committee meeting from 6pm at the Civic Offices.