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Race against time for Theale school cash




Wrangling continues over new site for £7m primary school

VITAL money to build an urgently-needed replacement primary school in Theale is at risk of being lost because of delays.

The Ofsted-rated outstanding Theale Primary School in Church Street has been oversubscribed for a number of years.

West Berkshire Council was awarded £7m of government funding for a 420-place school and has appointed Kier Group to construct it by September 2017.

There’s just one problem – the council has yet to secure its preferred site at the North Street playing fields and is now racing against time to secure the government cash.

The land is owned by the Englefield Estate but leased to Theale Parish Council, meaning that the parish council must relinquish five acres of land before an application can be submitted.

The two authorities have been locked in discussions to establish appropriate highways measures, including an on-site ‘kiss and drop’ facility to minimise the traffic impact.

The district council told residents last summer that its options would be limited if an application was not submitted by November 2015. That deadline was then extended to February this year, but a deal for the land has yet to be made.

Nevertheless, West Berkshire Council has said it will press ahead and submit a planning application in order to secure the government funds.

West Berkshire Council’s executive member for education, Dominic Boeck (Con, Aldermaston) said: “The school and the council are determined not to miss this one-off opportunity which would future proof present standards of education in Theale for many generations to come.

“We are pulling out all the stops to ensure that the children of Theale get the great education facilities they deserve by September 2017 before overcrowding becomes wholly unmanageable.

“However, in order to secure the allocated funding for the replacement school we must meet a fast-approaching deadline which rests upon the success of the negotiations we are currently in with Theale Parish Council.”

But the parish council has said that the district council has only itself to blame for the delay.

It raised concerns about the suitability of the site and said it had repeatedly asked how the issue would be addressed. It added that it was obliged by law to not give away public assets and sought compensation through improved or replacement facilities.

At a meeting in January, the district council presented highways information to parish councillors, Thames Valley Police and Reading West MP Alok Sharma.

The parish council said that the proposals did not adequately address its concerns and requested more detail on the proposed ‘kiss and drop’ facility.

The district council told representatives that a visit would be arranged at a West Berkshire school.

The parish council said that a visit was then carried out in Maidenhead in March after it transpired that West Berkshire Council does not currently run a ‘kiss and drop’ facility like the one proposed.

The parish council also said it was still awaiting answers to questions two months after January’s presentation.

In a statement Theale Parish Council said that it “would like to be in a position to make a decision on the site but owing to these unresolved issues it currently isn’t able to do so.

“The council is aware that WBC did not submit the planning application for the new school by their intended date at the end of February 2016 and looks forward to seeing the final proposals when the plans are published on WBC’s website, which they say will be by the end of March 2016.”



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