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DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR FORMER SCHOOL SITES IN CHAPEL HOUSE AND CHAPEL PARK

Jon Aydon and Jason Smith, Local Conservative candidates for Denton and Westerhope Wards have learned of secret plans to build houses on former school sites in Chapel House and Chapel Park.

Papers obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that Liberal Democrat Councillors in Denton and Westerhope Wards have been discussing the possible development of the Chapel Park Middle, Chapel House Middle and Parkway Special School sites since the autumn last year.

The papers reveal that the three sites are on the draft Medium Term Housing Plan List and local councillors’ discussions about plans for building houses and other developments on the sites. Residents of both wards have been kept in the dark about the plans.

The plans for the Chapel Park Middle School include a housing development and a park. Residents fought a previous planning application and believed that local councillors had promised to discuss any future plans with them.

The Parkway Special School building was demolished some years ago, and it now consists of a large grassed area at the junction of Hillhead Parkway and Hillhead Road. It has been suggested that the site would be ideal for mixed  tenure and size of residential use.

Knop Law School will relocate to new accommodation on the Chapel House Middle School and Thomas Bewick School sites in September 2009. However, one of the documents says that this is a very large site, with a large area of playing fields that will not all be required for the new Knop Law first school. One of the options under consideration is to build housing on the remainder of the site.

Jon Aydon and Jason Smith have written to Liberal Democrat Councillors in Denton and Westerhope Wards, copied to residents affected by any development on the three sites. In the letter, Jason and Jon said: “Your decision to keep residents in the dark about the discussions can only be interpreted as an attempt to make sure that voters did not hear about your plans until after the local elections. What is it that you do not want them to know?"

LOCAL CONSERVATIVES PUBLISH NOTES OF MEETINGS ABOUT FORMER SCHOOL SITES

Local Conservatives want residents of Chapel House and Chapel Park to have a say in the future of the sites. We do not want the community to be consulted only on the options that officers and councillors have developed between them.  

Liberal Democrats have accused Local Conservatives of scaremongering. Peter Arnold, LibDem Denton Ward Candidate, would have us believe that it was the Labour Party that closed the middle schools. The Liberal Democrats won control of the council in 2004 and the outer west middle schools closed in 2005. Peter Arnold may have a selective memory but we do not. 

Peter Arnold claims there has not been secret meetings between local councillors and officers about the future of the former school sites (Chapel Park Middle, Chapel House Middle and Parkway). Residents of Chapel Park thought they had an assurance from councillors that they would be involved in discussions about the future of the middle school site from an early stage.

If councillors have kept residents in the dark about meetings they are having with council officers, why do councillors insist on denying they have had secret meetings? Given the LibDem denials, we have concluded that we must publish the notes of the meetings between councillors and council officers so residents can judge for themselves who to believe.

Original Proposal: 8 February 2006

Westerhope Councillors met with senior Liberal Democrat Councillors and council officers to discuss proposals for the site. It took 15 months for councillors to discuss this with local residents (on receipt of a letter from the planning department to be precise). See notes of the meeting.

Surplus Schools Meeting: 4 October 2007

This is the first meeting, involving councillors from Westerhope Ward and council officers. Click on the link for the notes of the meeting and accompanying paper.

Surplus Schools Meeting: 21 November 2007

This meeting involves councillors from Westerhope and Denton Wards and council officers, as well as Cllr Mike Cookson, a councillor in the same Gosforth ward as Peter Arnold. Despite discussions taking place about the school sites, when the planning department wrote to consultees for the boys club planning application at ChapelParkMiddle School to inform them it had been withdrawn, there was no mention of any discussions about future uses for the site.  This document shows why: "Based on councillor advice it was decided that he would say in the letter that nothing has been decided yet for the sites, but if anything is proposed they will be consulted."

Click here for the notes of the meeting.

Action List: 19 March 2008

This shows that discussions are still ongoing between various parts of the city council. Click here for the action list.

So when were Liberal Democrats planning to tell us about their plans for the site?

2nd May perhaps?

The story appeared in the Evening Chronicle on Friday 18 April 2008. Click here for more information.

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