Monday 12 July 2010

Rodford School demolition - shouldn't the community be asked first?

South Glos Council has decided to demolish the buildings at Rodford School, Yate, as soon as the school closes on July 23rd - from the end of the term it is being merged with Kings Court Primary School to form Woodlands Primary School.

South Glos say this is necessary to prevent vandalism, but nobody has asked the local community about this. For example, there's a hall which could be a useful public facility.  

Lib Dem Cllr Ruth Davis has asked S Glos to look at potential uses for the site, for example to provide community facilities, especially as groups like South Gloucestershire Deaf Association are looking for new premises.

This could be an opportunity - as Ruth said "With the current economic climate it is going to be very difficult to get funding for a new building in the future"

The good news is that the playing fields are likely to remain as open space for community use.

3 comments:

  1. At the same time could they also get rid of the huge trees blocking the view of the road ahead on the sharp bend in Barnwood Road which is full of parked vehicles on one side to give some chance of seeing if any vehicles are coming the other way?

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a totally wrong decision - the council shouldn't be considering demolition with no plans for what is to take its place. As regards the alleged chronic vandalism this fact could be readily disputed, just ask the local residents or the school caretaker.
    I think South Glos is using this spurious excuse to try and push through the sale of the land to a developer in order to boost its financial state. This has probably led the decision making process for many years. I think that this may well backfire on them as the site could remain derelict for many years in this current economic climate.
    There must be many organisations struggling with inferior accommodation who would be willing to pay a decent rent for premises rather than the council wasting more of taxpayers’ money on clearing the site which could conceivably amount to £80,000. Surely the council could extend its search for possible tenants so that the buildings could be fully utilised in the future?

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a totally wrong decision - the council shouldn't be considering demolition with no plans for what is to take its place. As regards the alleged chronic vandalism this fact could be readily disputed, just ask the local residents or the school caretaker.
    I think South Glos is using this spurious excuse to try and push through the sale of the land to a developer in order to boost its financial state. This has probably led the decision making process for many years. I think that this may well backfire on them as the site could remain derelict for many years in this current economic climate.
    There must be many organisations struggling with inferior accommodation who would be willing to pay a decent rent for premises rather than the council wasting more of taxpayers’ money on clearing the site which could conceivably amount to £80,000. Surely the council could extend its search for possible tenants so that the buildings could be fully utilised in the future?

    ReplyDelete