Culverhay should have education use

What’s going to happen to the old Culverhay school?” is a question being asked by many residents, particularly by those in Twerton, Southdown and Odd Down. The school buildings are now back under council control, after the Conservatives running B&NES allowed the academy trust to close our school. It now looks as though the site could be used for different purposes and a ‘masterplan’ may be created to decide the best use. A recent council report made all the right noises about involving the community in the plans and being open and transparent. However, it looks like we’ll have to wait two years to find out exactly what is proposed. That will give enough time to truly listen to local people and get this right. In the meantime, the nursery, leisure centre etc will continue to operate from Culverhay, which is good news. The Lib Dems believe that there should be a continued educational use for this land – something that will fit in with local children’s needs and serve our community. We could support extending education to training and apprenticeships. There could be scope for other services or even space for businesses to be added. We would absolutely oppose any Conservative plans to sell the school site off for housing. Clearly the key decisions will come after next year’s local elections. We hope that local residents will support Lib Dem councillors who will listen to what people want and continue to fight for our community. Councillors Steve Hedges, Nigel Roberts, Dine Romero, Paul Crossley, and Tim Ball. Sarah Moore and Joel Hirst Odd Down, Southdown and Twerton Lib Dems