Agenda item

- report by Managing  Director for Children, Families and Education)

(1)       Mr Adams gave a detailed introduction as to the background to this matter and highlighted the main areas for members to consider in reaching a view on the proposals detailed in the report. 

(2)       Following publication of the consultation document, further discussions became necessary with the Governing Body of Brockhill Park Performing Arts College regarding the precise siteing of the schools.  It was originally proposed to locate the special schools close to the college itself, but an alternative location on site, to the south, is now proposed.  Additionally, the Council felt it appropriate to consult on an alternative site location for the two special schools.  The second site proposed is land fronting Park Farm Road - part of the former Channel School site.  The site adjoins the Folkestone Academy which is an all ability school for boys and girls aged 4-18 years. Also    It has now been necessary to move the position of Foxwood and Highview Schools in the sequence of school rebuilds within Wave 5 of BSF.  As a result it was now anticipated the schools would be completed by January 2015 and this therefore would alter the proposed relocation date.           

(3)       Miss Carey and Mr Capon both spoke on this matter but in their capacity as local County Members.  Miss Carey said the impact of this proposal on the local area had to be looked at very carefully with the concerns of local people being taken fully into account. She said that in and around the Brockhill Park Performing Arts College local residents were already twice a day experiencing considerable traffic problems and there were concerns that these coupled with other problems such as litter and graffiti could mean any expansion at the site could make an already difficult situation even worse. Miss Carey said that what ever site option was chosen sufficient money would need to be set aside from the development costs to address local traffic problems, particularly if the chosen site was Brockhill College. Miss Carey also said that KCC should not take a ‘silo’ view and the Council had to look at the proposal in the context of not just its education responsibilities but also in terms of its responsibilities for highways and communities. Overall and taking into account local circumstances Miss Carey said of the two proposed sites she believed Brockhill would present the most problems and for the reasons she had put forward was therefore in her view the least favourable of the two options. 

(4)       Mr Capon also spoke as a local county member and said in hearing the views of local people it was obvious that the traffic issues were causing the most concern, and these issues would have to be properly addressed which ever site option was adopted.  He said be believed Saltwood Parish Council had adopted a sensible stance in deciding not to comment at this stage and await the submission of a planning application, if and when received.  Mr Capon also said that as elements of the proposal were in Hythe, the Town Council should have been consulted but to date that had not happened.  Mr Adams apologised for this and said the views of the Town Council would be sought without delay.  Mr Capon said the development of either site would present problems but with the County Council owning the land which formed part of the former Channel School that presented a more preferable alternative given that all the issues related to the Brockhill  potentially made a successful relocation to that site impossible. 

(5)       Members of the Advisory Board then discussed the proposal in considerable detail during which they raised a number of specific points to which officers responded accordingly. Among the concerns members expressed was  the need to ensure any disruption to the education of the children who would be attending the two schools at the time of the relocation must be kept to an absolute minimum, the various concerns which had been expressed regarding the access arrangements in and around both sites should be investigated further, with the options being properly assessed and costed and the perceived impression that Brockhill College may not wholly want the two schools relocated onto its site and its position therefore needed to be clarified through further discussions.

(6)      At the conclusion of discussion Mr Adams summarised his views on the relative merits of the two sites and what may be needed to be done to solve access and development issues. As to the choice of site he believed that the planning issues related to the land at the former Channel School site were less problematic and with the land being in the ownership of the County Council that provided more certainty that a relocation to this site would be more easily deliverable.       

(7)         The Advisory Board Resolved to

(i)         recommend the Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education issue a public notice to redesignate  Foxwood and Highview Schools; to remove the boarding provision at Foxwood; and to change the age range of Highview School to include post 16 provision.

(ii)         The Advisory Board decided that on the balance of the information to hand and the need for there to be further investigations and discussions it would not be appropriate for it to express a formal view as to which site to recommend to the Cabinet  Member.