School rebuild needs speed

Serious concerns have been raised over the proposed timescale for a new Grove School in Balderton.

Last week the Advertiser revealed the promised rebuild would not start for at least two years.

The Government’s Education Funding Agency has told Nottinghamshire County Council it will make contact about the rebuild in the third quarter of 2014, but has not said when the rebuild would start.

Other schools in the county in a better condition than the Grove are further ahead in the timetable, sparking outrage among parents and supporters.

A schools campaigner and Grove parent, Mrs Pamela Durney, said: “By the time the new school is built another cohort of children will have been through.

“It is utterly disgraceful.

“Everyone is going to do everything they can to get it changed.”

The MP for Newark, Mr Patrick Mercer, and the chairman of the children and young people’s committee at the county council, Mr Philip Owen, have each written to schools minister Lord Hill with serious concerns about the timescale.

Mr Mercer has called a meeting locally on August 20 so a plan of action can be drawn up.

“I will continue to work with the county council and school campaigners to see what we can achieve,” he said.

In his letter to Lord Hill, Mr Owen said: “As you are aware, having visited the school, the Grove has serious issues in respect of its current premises and despite a programme of significant repair works, planned for this summer and beyond, conditions in the school will remain difficult until the new school becomes available.”

Mr Owen has asked for a meeting about the overall investment strategy for education in the Newark area.

He has also written to the Education Funding Agency calling for the Grove’s place in its building programme to be reviewed.

He says the Grove’s ranking may have been affected if the Lilley and Stone site was included in the school’s survey as the buildings there were in much better condition, although the rebuild plan is for the Balderton site only.

He said the Grove would sit better in the first batch of schools due to be rebuilt in Nottinghamshire.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said the order in which schools would be rebuilt took into consideration those in the worst condition and ensured that the sequencing of building work was viable for those financing and delivering the schools.

He said: “The Education Funding Agency is in contact with successful applicants about next steps and will be engaging with contractors and the market so that the programme can move ahead as quickly as possible.”