Decision by Cabinet Deferred

Following the report presentation to cabinet on the 6th, we have heard that the  matter was deferred by Cabinet  pending further information.

Cabinet Consultation - Residents input to the Consultation

The following outlines the information presented to Cabinet following the consultation. It is available online.  In isolation these issues are clear however for parents with children at the school they will experience more than one of these!

 

Appendix C

Summary of the consultation responses








Points and issues raised






Comment



The effect on families in the area where there is a proposed change of catchment and who have older siblings currently attending Maes yr Haul Primary School.






The LEA is mindful of the potential effect on younger siblings and would endeavour to maintain family unity by applying, when possible, the rule of not exceeding the PAN to any significant degree. However, the LEA cannot give any parent an absolute guarantee that they will be offered their first choice of school for their child.







The lack of a safe walking route to Trelales Prmary School and the distance involved;






The LEA’s preferred option would be to create a safe walking route to Trelales from Broadlands by extending the existing footpath which runs to the single track road (Gypsy Lane), along the length of the lane to the main A473 from which there is already a designated safe walking/cycling route to Trelales Primary.






Alternatively the LEA would provide free transport within the terms of the current home to school transport policy (i.e. to those pupils living more than 1.5 miles from Trelales Primary School.







Accuracy of the pupil number forecasts


The LEA continually monitors and updates pupil projections to fulfil its strategic role in terms of the planning of school places. In the case of Broadlands children there are insufficient places at Maes yr Haul Primary to meet the potential demand from parents.





While parental preference may change from year to year the LEA contends that the pupil projections necessitate a catchment area change and this will give parents the confidence that they will be able to obtain a place for their child in their local (catchment area) school.







That houses on the Cae Gleision and Ffynnon Dyffryn developments should be allocated to Trelales Primary with immediate effect






With any new housing development the LEA has to allocate the development to a local school, depending on the places available. Where there are insufficient places available at the local school then the LEA would nominate the nearest available school as the catchment area school. Therefore, in this case it would be appropriate for the Cae Gleision and Ffynnon Dyffryn developments to be allocated to Trelales Primary School.







Increased use of the car to transport pupils to Trelales Primary School;


increased congestion at the main entrance / exit to Broadlands, off the A473;






This will be dependent on the number of parents who choose to drive their children to Trelales Primary School.



The possibility that the two schools may have different start / finish times


School session times are determined by the governing body, therefore it is feasible for the schools in question to have different start / finish times.







Once a pupil is allocated a nursery place, the child should be allowed to continue within the same school










This is not permissible as it would contravene the new School Admissions Code, which states that “attendance at the nursery does guarantee admission to the school”.






The potential for Trelales Primary to be oversubscribed.






Trelales Primary School is popular with parents and is often oversubscribed. Increasing the catchment area as proposed will reduce the number of places available to children living outside the local area and prioritise those living nearer the school.







The need for extension /modifications at Trelales Primary to accommodate extra pupils.






The LEA will not be considering any extension or modification to the existing accommodation at Trelales Primary School as the school’s capacity will remain unchanged



Parents with pre-school children were not invited to the informal meetings.














Parents of children currently attending the two schools were officially invited to the informal consultation meetings, as the LEA does not have information on parents of pre-school children. The formal consultation paper was circulated to all residents of Broadlands and so parents of children not yet of school age have had the opportunity to respond.
























Broadlands Residents Association

Council Report Goes To Cabinet Today

The report of findings from the formal consultation goes in front of the cabinet today.
Lets hope that the correspondence from many of the residents is enough to convince the cabinet that there is not sufficient evidence to change the catchment.

Report goes to Cabinet on 6th April

Report on the BCBC Website

Broadlands Residents Association

Gypsy Lane - an Update from the meeting

Bridgend CBC Highways has confirmed that in order to provide acceptable improvements to Gypsy Lane from the recently developed section of the Broadlands estate (i.e. to provide a footway, lighting etc. to link to an existing ‘safe route to school’), land would need to be acquired and sections of hedgerow removed. If the proposal is to proceed, the capital cost will have to be identified by the Children’s Directorate.

Gypsy Lane - Residents Meet to Object School Catchment Changes

Broadlands Residents Association

Broadlands Residents Association

Gypsy Lane - Residents to Meet 13th Feb 1pm

Broadlands Residents Association

Objection Letters

Following the Association meeting on Thursday last week the attached letters have been sent to the local authority education, highways and countryside departments. We have also written to the Chair of the Cabinet (who will make the final decision) asking for assurances that the flaws in the evidence base will be scrutinised carefully

Please feel free to submit your own letters of objection drawing on these if required.

Objection Letter

Highways Letter

Biodiversity Letter

Time for action!

There will be a meeting of the Broadlands Residents' Association on Thursday 5th Feb at 7pm at the school with the key item on the agenda the proposed change to the school catchment.

As you may have seen, the Council has commenced a formal consultation on the proposal but critically has not provided any new information to address those concerns raised in earlier objections. The deadline for representations is only two weeks away.

It also appears that while the school Governors agreed to write in objection, their letter may not ever have been issued and they may not understand the need to make further representations!

DO YOU KNOW A GOVERNOR? PLEASE TELL THEM TO RAISE THIS ISSUE URGENTLY!!!!

Routes from Broadlands to Laleston Part 2

After attending the Residents meeting last year, our family and neighbours took away the clear message that our other children may not be able to attend Maes Yr Haul School (even though our first child is in attendance at the school and our second just due to start when the catchment changes). Both of us work full time; split schooling would cause an issue in being at both schools for 9am. The representatives from Bridgend Borough Council at the residents meeting made no guarantees about a position for our child, even with siblings attending the same school. In practical terms this will mean that at least one of our children will be late for school every day (even driving from Maes-Yr-Haul to Laleston between 8:30am and 9:00am takes at least 10-15mins due to the volume of traffic within Broadlands and secondly the school run at Trelales brings additional traffic problems). Trelales is an excellent school and both Schools are comparable on teaching standards - its certainly our second choice - this is not the issue, but having children at 2 schools is difficult.

Current Route to School: If you consider the below map, you can see the routes to school from western broadlands, or Clos Henblas and Rhodfa Mes (green/yellow lines), there are safe routes via cycle paths and only crossing a small number of speed restricted roads. The Broadlands development was designed with the school and facilities at the heart of the site all linked by the safe cycle routes.

If the proposals go ahead (the blog post here shows that BCBC are moving forward with this) there are some key issues with the route into Laleston which need to be addressed, see this blog post - you can see that the route via Gypsy lane has no footpaths and secondly its being used as short cut by drivers wanting a fast route from North (A473 to South A48). Perhaps this needs to become a pedestrian only route?

There is also the issue that we'll need to be in two places at once!

Key: Green block (Rhodfa Mes), Orange Block (Clos Henblas), Red Block (New Development Cae Gleision).

View Maes-Yr-Haul Catchment Changes in a larger map

Response received from Bridgend CBC... Time for action!

Dear Mr Hughes
I acknowledge receipt of your e-mail and apologise for the delay in responding.

It is the intention of Officers to go ahead with the formal consultation to re-configure the catchment areas of Maes yr haul and Trelales Primary Schools, for the reasons stated at the meeting with parents held in November 2009. This formal process will involve all residents and not only parents of existing pupils. We note the Association’s concerns as outlined in your letter dated 22nd November 2009 regarding the validity of the data and safety issues relating to proposed route(s) to Trelales. I am working with Road Safety and Highways colleagues to explore these safety concerns and ensure that pupils will have a safe means of getting to school.

I will keep you informed of developments.
Regards
Mark
--
Mark Beauchamp
Group Manager, Learner Support Services
Children's Directorate
Sunnyside
Bridgend
CF31 4AR