The Gang of Four Strike Again - Mouldon Hill Consultation

 

It was with some bemusement that residents have read the recent leaflet from the local ward councillors and MP about their need for a school at Mouldon Hill.   Residents are puzzled because they are under the impression that they are taking part in a consultation with Swindon Borough Council’s education department.

We now have a situation where four politicians have waded in.  Are they trying to skew the outcome?  Was the Oakhurst consultation an afterthought after residents had raised concerns that Mouldon Hill was the only option being given to them?

	Councillors/MP’s View	Residents’ View
Mouldon Hill  (original proposal)	·      Situated in Priory Vale Ward and adjacent to Oakhurst ·      Sufficient land for school and car parking and sufficient room to expand   ·     Proposed access is from Thamesdown Drive           ·        It is  part of Mouldon Hill Country Park ·        Suggestion of building a road from Thamesdown Drive towards Oakhurst Way	·        It is near Taw Hill, not near Oakhurst and Redhouse ·        Which means that they want to build on more and more of Mouldon Hill Country Park in the future ·        Not a safe route to school by any stretch of the imagination ·        No mention of the flooding issue, the railway line that children would need to cross, the overhead power lines and the huge costs involved?  ·        We have precious little open space in North Swindon already ·        As much chance of being built as the Northern bypass
Redhouse Pub Site	·         Difficult to see any as the site would be too small     ·      It would suffer from a huge lack of parking spaces   ·      It would add to the existing traffic and parking problems             ·       This land already has planning permission for a pub that residents all want	·        The site is bigger than the one for the new Croft school which in turn was bigger than the proposed Broadgreen school site ·        If, as they claim, it is within walking distance, why do they need a car park? ·        When has that ever caused them concern at other sites? ·        A 420-place school has been built at Croft on a narrow dead end lane and SBC argued that there would be no issues caused by parking and traffic – so which is it, an issue or not an issue? ·        Residents have been waiting for 10 years for a pub, that has not been built, and the developer has already applied to build 33 houses on land that had planning permission for retail units
Clary Road Site	·        This land could be made available by Haydon Wick Parish Council       ·        It is in Haydon Wick and so not convenient for Oakhurst and Redhouse residents	·       HWPC have just taken on a 99 year lease for this land as much needed sports pitches – have they been asked if they are willing to give up the lease? ·       It is not much further away for residents than the Mouldon Hill site
Mouldon Hill (alternative proposal)	·       Convenient to Oakhurst & Redhouse ·       Large enough for school with parking and room to expand   ·       A well used part of the country park     ·       Access/egress is from Thamesdown Drive ·        Access road already built	·       At least ¾ of a mile down a busy dual carriageway ·       This means more of the Country Park will be built on leading to the loss of precious open space ·         Visitors to the Country Park will be met by an ever increasing number of buildings and it will be visually intrusive for Park users ·        Not a safe access point for young children ·        No mention of crossing Thamesdown Drive and no footpath on the Oakhurst side of the road. ·        Through a height limited entrance to a car park
Tadpole Farm (extension of planned new school site)	·       Plenty of room for school and parking                       ·       A new road would be needed for access from Tadpole Lane  ·      It probably would not be open by Sept-2014	·        This site really is adjacent to Oakhurst and would help to mitigate the impact of the Tadpole Farm development ·        Families from Oakhurst and Redhouse would face less competition for school places from Wiltshire developments on the border ·        SBC were willing to invest £45million in roads at Wichelstowe ·        A school access off Tadpole Lane will be no more difficult than the one that already exists ·        The PCT data has been available for years that predicted the need for school places in 2014

 We are also really surprised that local councillors and the MP are showing this much interest in school places in North Swindon.  When a recent Freedom of Information request was made to Swindon Borough Council for a list of all requests made in recent years, by local councillors and the MP, for additional school places in North Swindon the response from SBC was that no requests had been made.

What is also perplexing to the people of Oakhurst is that this consultation, by SBC’s education department with parents, has been hijacked by politicians.  Are they really that desperate to turn a serious consultation into something to put on a shiny leaflet come election time?

Can you trust the gang of four when they said that they were against inappropriate development at Tadpole Farm and then did a u-turn and proposed its’ approval?