St Colettes - a state school? Posted:02/03/2010 19:20:47
copy of Email received from Hazel Belchamber of Cambridgeshire County Council dated 26.02.10
Thank you for your email of 18 February 2010. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding.
As you are clearly aware, the City is undergoing a significant demographic change due to rising birth rates and fertility rates. As a result, we need to provide additional early years and childcare and primary school places.
At this time, I am unable to give you a definite answer as to whether the former St Colettes School site might be needed for education use by the County Council without investigating the site and local circumstances in much more detail. What I can say is that site is on the small side for school use (we would be normally require a 1.5ha site for a primary school providing for 210 places). However, the demographic changes taking place in the City at the present mean that we must consider all potential options for securing the additional places we require.
I can advise you that a site visit has been arranged for the 10 March to enable us to assess its potential suitability in more detail.
Yours sincerely
Hazel Belchamber
From: secretary@gtara.org [mailto:secretary@gtara.org] Sent: 18 February 2010 08:32 To: Belchamber Hazel Cc: Bell Barbara; Szreter Simon Subject: Former St Colettes School - potential for future provision of primary education
Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association
Chair Barbara Bell 23 Glisson Road, Vice Chair - Simon Szreter 18 Tenison Ave, Secretary - Frank Gawthrop 30 Lyndewode Road,
Treasurer - Bronwen Loder 39 Glisson Road
Mrs Hazel Belchamber
Head of Service - Infrastructure
Cambridgeshire County Council
Shire Hall
Cambridge
18.02.10
hazel.belchamber@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Dear Mrs Belchamber
Former St Colette's School Site Tenison Road Cambridge.
I am writing on behalf of our Residents Association with regard to the above school site which was vacated by its previous occupants last summer.
The site is currently the subject of a planning application to the City Council for the construction of a number of town houses. Discussions with the Planning Officer at the City Council, Mr Tony Collins, and at the Development Control Forum indicate that in policy terms the officers are likely to recommend that the application be refused on the basis it does not conform to policy Policy 5/11 of the Local Plan
"The redevelopment of school sites for other uses will be permitted only if it can be demonstrated that they are not required in the longer term for continued education use."
In this context, we are aware of a current and future problem of insufficient infant/primary school places in the City of Cambridge.
In addition, there is potential for considerable additional need in the locality. In 2008, the City Council agreed the CB1 Station Development containing a total of 331 flats of which 162 will have two bedrooms and 20 three bedrooms. In 2006 they approved 156 flats on the site of the Botanic House office by the war memorial at the top of Station Road. Of these 68 are two bedroom and 26 three bedroom units. These agreed developments have a substantial capacity for family accommodation and we believe the local schools, St Paul's and St Matthew's, are heavily oversubscribed.
We are therefore writing to enquire if your dept has considered the former St Colette's site as a suitable location for additional County Council educational provision?
Whilst it retains its current planning designation the site is less valuable than it would be if it were granted an alternative commercial use. In our view, it could therefore be utilised to meet a shortage of much-needed school places either on lease or sale at a cost which reflects this community use.
