Injustice at Mouldon Hill School Place Consultation?

This article represents the views of Oakhurst residents who want an Oakhurst school for Oakhurst children

Residents report witnessing an injustice being perpetrated against Oakhurst families and their children at the Mouldon Hill school consultation session at the Tawny Owl on 23 January 2013. 

Mouldon Hill School? The Facts According to the Residents of Oakhurst

Some parents in Oakhurst have moved to get a neighbourhood school place or are faced with moving.  The alternative is to send their child to a school that they did not choose and travelling miles to drop their child off.  The current Secretary of State for Education may talk at length about parental choice but for many Oakhurst families there has never been  a choice.  If  they opt for their Oakhurst school then they may end up in Rodbourne Cheney, Pinehurst or a school outside of the Northern Sector altogether. They may also face appeals with no outcome except disappointment.  That is a reality for parents and young children in Oakhurst.

Mouldon Hill - Does It All Make Sense?

Here is an article from a guest about the Mouldon Hill school.  It is worth reading as it gives an overview of considerations that don't appear to be headline topics for discussion.  Anyway here's the blog for you to read.

The people of Swindon are faced with huge public debt.  Cuts are being proposed to services and yet more Council Staff are in fear of redundancy.  Cllr Bluh states that money has to be borrowed for education.

It is a matter of record that SBC received £6,374,000 for educational needs in North Swindon and allocated this in total to the Croft in South Swindon, which now has the luxury of additional primary places, not that Children’s Services would tell you that.  They have just been caught out reporting that all Old Town and Town Centre primary schools are ‘full’.  Children’s services are now off to define what ‘full’ means.  Maybe they should ask North Swindon residents?

On 17^th January 2013, North Swindon Ward Councillor, Lead Member for Children’s services and Deputy Council Leader Renard was asked the following questions by a member of the public:

Cllr Renard, in your recent written response to public questions regarding the usage of Mouldon Hill Country park you stated, “The Local Authority has recently stated that Mouldon Hill Country Park is underused.  However, the part of the park that is the subject of the consultation appears not to be frequented by members of the public as it is inaccessible due to flood defences and the railway line surrounding it”

A School at Mouldon Hill is not Oakhurst

Councillors please note that Oakhurst is not Taw Hill.  Taw Hill is not Mouldon Hill, especially when it's a Country Park.  Geography does not change on a political whim.  Therefore residents in Oakhurst, who are well aware of the difference, have been telling ORA that they would like a local school in Oakhurst for their children to attend; a school that is not built at the expense of their country park.

Oakhurst needs a school for Oakhurst.  The proposed school at Mouldon Hill Country Park (renamed  Oakhurst or Taw Hill by the politicians) is very difficult for Oakhurst families to get to.  They will have to cross the main road twice and divert, on the footpath, through Taw Hill and then cross the revised railway route to even reach the front gates.

Gone With The Wind

ORA has extended the courtesy to Ill Wind, a group of local residents, to host their article about proposed wind turbine sites in Swindon Borough Council's Local Plan.  This is entirely the work of Ill Wind and its publisher.  Any comments should be directed to them.

 

Gone With The Wind

Last year saw 5 parish councils and well over 800 Swindon residents taken aback by a Planning Department document that identified areas, including Highworth, Hannington, South Marston, Tadpole Farm and the eastern villages of Wanborough and Liddington as areas appropriate for wind turbines.  In response, the residents and local parish councils asked that the Local Plan should define a minimum separation distance between any proposed wind turbines and residential housing.