School bosses to fight for academies (From Daily Echo)

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Southampton school chiefs vow to fight on behalf of Oasis Mayfield and Lord's Hill

11:40am Thursday 8th July 2010 in Education Photograph of the Author Exclusive By Jon Reeve, Education Reporter

An artist's impression of Oasis Academy Mayfield

SOUTHAMPTON’S schools chiefs have vowed to fight for the £35m plans to rebuild the city’s two academies.

Education bosses are demanding urgent talks with the Government after it announced that schemes to overhaul Oasis Academies Mayfield and Lord’s Hill are under threat from massive budget cuts.

As previously reported, Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove this week pulled the plug on funding for a £200m programme to replace more than half of Southampton’s secondary schools, and upgrade facilities at several more.

But he also revealed that the city’s separate academies plans are now up “for discussion”

– even though a builder has been found and a planning application for the overhaul of Mayfield’s site in The Grove, Sholing, is due before councillors within a fortnight.

If approved, construction firm Carillion could have started work on the new £15m buildings as soon as this November.

The company is also preparing plans for a £20m project to move Oasis Lord’s Hill to a new site, possibly on playing grounds at Five Acres, next to The Cedar School, with the intention of opening in 2012.

Council bosses and Oasis Community Learning – the Christian charity which has run the academies since they opened in 2008, following the mergers of Woolston and Grove Park, and Oaklands and Millbrook schools – now want urgent contact with the Government to discuss the future of the schemes.

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In his shock announcement on Monday, Mr Gove said that academy rebuilding projects would be looked at individually before a decision was made on whether to agree to funding them.

Southampton’s Tory education chief, Cllr Paul Holmes, said: “We are ready to fight their case.

“These projects are extremely far advanced, with plans for Oasis Academy Mayfield due to be considered by planning within days and design work for Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill almost complete.

“I am confident that we can still deliver these schools and will be pursuing this with the Government as a matter of urgency.”

Southampton Test’s Labour MP Alan Whitehead has also promised to fight for the schemes, which he believes are important to the wider community.

He said he was disgusted that the city’s Building Schools for the Future programme had been cut, despite assurances during the election campaign from Conservative leader David Cameron that it would be safe.

Dr Whitehead said: “This was a real opportunity to invest in our city’s future and close the educational gap between Southampton and other parts of the country.

“That opportunity has now been squandered to pay for the Tory-Liberal obsession with ‘free schools’.

“I will be pressing hard to make sure the rebuild funding for Lord’s Hill and Mayfield Academies can at least be salvaged. The funding for the Lord’s Hill Academy is vital in particular for the future of the whole Lordshill area.”

Comments(20)

Chipster says...
11:53am Thu 8 Jul 10

Can't say I'm bothered about the merger of Oaklands and Millbrook, it was going to be built on Hillyfields near Nursling. We would have lost a great deal of playing area for Football/Rugby, it would have killed off the Kite festival and greatly affected a lot of Dog walkers!
Time to think again!