‘We did not get it wrong over school move’ – leader
STOCKPORT authorities did not ‘get it wrong’ over scrapped plans to relocate a primary school from Bramhall to Woodford, according to council leadership.
Proposals to move Queensgate Primary School to the Woodford Garden Village, around three miles away, were met with an outcry from parents -- prompting the council to drop the plans.
More than 900 people signed a petition against the move, which was backed by Mary Robinson MP.
Now, deputy leader Tom McGee has told the Express that he does not think the council got it wrong.
“I don’t think we got it wrong in the sense that we are trying to listen to a range of views before coming down [to] a sensible place now,” he said.
The Labour councillor for Heatons South added: “The original plan, going back eight or nine years, was that the [parents of] Queensgate Primary School would manage it in a federation, so the head would look after that school as well [as the Woodford Garden Village school].
“Legally, all that has changed, so new schools coming on-stream are no longer allowed to be done like that.
“There were mixed views on whether some people wanted to have some form of federation or not -- [doing] that could have or should have meant Queensgate moving.
“Parents, rightly, had a view that we listened to. I think what we have done is demonstrated we have listened to what parents have told us.”
A primary school is required at the Woodford Garden Village, on the former BAE systems site, after its 450th home was completed -- half of the development.
The abandonment of the plans now means that it’s almost certain this new school will be a single-form institution, serving roughly 30 pupils from the new housing estate.
One prominent opponent of the move within the Town Hall was Coun John McGahan -deputy leader of the Conservatives.
Speaking at a full council meeting last week, he said there had been an almost unprecedented response from residents who were ‘genuinely fearful and worried about this proposal.’
“We have spoken with many, many families about how this could have impacted their lives for the worse,” he said.
“People from Woodford who moved into the village for a small community feel in a family-friendly environment and a greener future of walking kids to school.
“And families in Bramhall, full of dread at having to travel further twice every day.”