DECISION TIME!

On 10th April, Fife Council Education and Children’s Services Committee decided to proceed with planning to build a new single site Madras College. Cllr Ron Caird did not receive support for his amendment to include a Taybridgehead school I have purposely waited before posting this to see if a groundswell of objection will emerge from the above decision. None has materialised to my knowledge. At last, a definite way ahead has been decided after many years of waiting and we should grab the opportunity with both hands. Should the need arise in the future for a TBH school, planning for this should proceed then. I would now urge Cllr Caird to get behind the building of a new Madras College to give our children a fighting chance of attending a school fit for purpose and for Fife Council to deliver this in the next 3 years.

THE FIRST STEP?

On 5th March the North East Fife Area Committee of Fife Council discussed future secondary school provision for our area and appear to have concluded that present school roll projections do not justify building 2 new schools. The Children’s Services and Education Committee at Council will discuss this issue in more detail on 10th April. This meeting could prove to be very important in deciding the way ahead and I will be attending. I hope to be able to impart some good news on progress to our goal.

HAPPY NEW YEAR?

The end of last year left us with the potential financial white elephant that is a Category B listed Kilrymont School. I received an explanation, from Mr Andy Kelly of Fife Council, defending the Council position on this. It stated that procedure was followed and at time of consultation, no planning consents, development brief or master plan existed. In this, he is correct despite the recent insistence of some Labour politicians that the previous Council administration had progressed with planning for new accommodation. If this had been true, the listing of Kilrymont would probably not have proceeded. I do, however, seriously question the narrow horizons and autonomous powers of Historic Scotland to so fundamentally affect the future of people with no right of appeal. We are where we are. It would seem that we await a windfall from the Scottish Government to fulfil our goal and I hope some news of this may be forthcoming at the next Council Ed. Committee meeting on 28th February.

FOLLOWING CORRECT PROCEDURE?

I have been making enquires into the reasons why Fife Council did not object to the listing of Kilrymont and am now in a position to tell you all. It appears that only one person in Development Services dealt with the matter and, unable to find any planning proposals for Kilrymont School, informed Historic Scotland that the Council had no objections to the listing. This individual did follow correct procedure but it does beg the question of why the Education Service was not consulted. I was informed that this was “not common practice”. I would assert that a little joined up thinking would not have gone amiss here. After all, It’s not every day Historic Scotland ask to have a school listed and it’s not every day one individual is in a position to sign off on the future of 1800 pupils! I have written to the Chief Executive at Council, Ronnie Hinds, asking him to approach Historic Scotland to review the decision. I’ll let you know how far I get.
Lisa

PROGRESS?

I went to the Education Committee meeting on 3rd October as promised. Mr Greer, Cllr Chapman and Cllr Waterston all agreed that funding is awaited, presumably from the Government. There does appear to be real concern that progress needs to made as soon as possible and I am encouraged by the recent Courier articles which have Cllr Chapman saying that a paper will be brought to Committee early next year. Madras Parent Council is hoping that Mr Greer will attend a forthcoming meeting of the PC to inform on progress to date. Will let you know the date when I do. Lisa

Kilrymont School - A National Treasure?

It has come to our attention that Kilrymont School was Category B listed by Historic Scotland on 27th July 2007. There was a consultation period between March and June 2007 when the owner, the relevant local authority (in this case, the owner is the local authority, Fife Council) and an independent third party had the opportunity to object to this listing. No objection was made.

Unfortunately, this listing puts certain restrictions on the redevelopment of the site. It prevents demolition, unless in exceptional circumstances, and severely restricts the scope available for redevelopment. These preclusions could negatively affect resale potential and increase the possible redevelopment costs.

It is unclear at the moment why Fife Council did not object to the listing of this school. I understand that the sale of the Kilrymont site is being considered to help raise capital for new school buildings. Why Fife Council allowed the listing to go ahead without objection is therefore baffling. Surely, it would have been better management to delay the listing until the Education and Children’s Services Committee had agreed on how to solve the school estate issues of Madras College?

Lisa

DISSAPOINTING DELAY

I received a message from Cllr Waterston to inform me that Madras College estate would not be included in the Committee meeting of 23rd August. He explained that ,at this time, there remained further work to be done on formulation of proposals to move this issue forward but appeared confident that Madras College would be on the agenda of the Education and Childrens Services Committee meeting of 4th October. I reminded him that 8 months has elapsed since Madras College was last discussed at Council and that parents now expect acceleration in addressing this issue.

THE FIRST STEP?

I e-mailed all members of the new Education and Children’s Services Committee last evening asking if any member intended to raise the future of Madras at the forthcoming Committee meeting on 25th June. The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Douglas Chapman, contacted me by phone today to say that the forthcoming meeting would be mainly concerned with induction and procedural information for new councillors BUT that he hoped to present a paper at the next meeting of Committee on 23rd August on the future of Madras. We will be there!

COUNCIL PLEDGE A TAYBRIDGEHEAD SCHOOL

Well folks! It remains to be seen whether this pledge will be honoured but ,according to the Fife Herald of 1st June, a business case for a new TBH school WILL be in place within 12 months. It would stand to reason that a new Madras College would be built in tandem with a new TBH school but no details ,as yet ,about where a single site Madras will be. Any comments welcome.

New Council- New School(s)???

A new administration is settling in at Fife Council as I write. All say that they are passionate, enthusiastic and determined to meet the needs of fife folk. So, let us tell them what we want. A hustings at Madras on 1st May was poorly attended and, sad to say, the 8 candidates present almost outnumbered the audience. However, the overriding message from the candidates was a cross party consensus that the 2 school option was the favoured solution. To all of you reading this, please take the time to send a mail to your councillor et al, including our new 1st Minister. It is crucial we continue to maintain pressure on officials to prevent our children spending not 1 minute longer than necessary in unsatisfactory accommodation.