Cheaper to expand Newburgh
I note that it is proposed to build a new one-form entry primary school unit within Aylesford Secondary School. Apparently parents are being encouraged (Courier last week) to enrol their children already, even though the funding has not been agreed, nor has planning permission yet been granted. Does this not make a mockery of the planning system? How much taxpayers’ money is going to be wasted in submitting and considering a planning application, when apparently the result is a foregone conclusion?
Your report suggests that simply building seven new classrooms within the Aylesford complex is all that is required. However, primary schools have to be secure so that youngsters cannot escape and put themselves in harm’s way, and thus a separate unit altogether will need to be built within the grounds of Aylesford.
This, presumably, is how the proposed cost of £2.7 million - £385,000 per classroom – is arrived at. In these days of government and council spending cuts, surely it would be much cheaper to expand nearby Newburgh Primary School from two to three-form entry.
Ron Gellért-Binnie, via email