A campaign group led by parents has said they are "delighted" after confirmation of an urgently needed secondary school in east Bristol. It is part of the £375 million regeneration of Silverthorne Lane in Bristol Temple Quarter which was given the green light on April 13 by Minister of State for Housing, Stuart Andrew MP on behalf of the Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.
The scheme will provide a 1,600 pupil secondary school and sixth form delivered by the Department for Education to address a severe shortage of secondary places in the BS2 and BS5 areas. While developers have been waiting well over two years since the planning application was submitted in August 2019 by Feeder Estates LLP, a partnership controlled and managed by Square Bay, some parents have been campaigning for increased secondary school places for almost eight years.
BS5 Secondary Forum, a parent-led group, was established in 2014 to address the local lack of school places and provider choice to champion high quality and inclusive Bristol City Council’s in the east of the city. Amy Harrison is one of the numerous parents who was involved in the campaign, which was a "relentless and complex journey".
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Speaking on behalf of the campaign group, Ms Harrison said: "We are delighted that the long overdue Oasis Temple Quarter Secondary School has finally been given to go ahead - the campaign for the school began back in 2014 and has been a relentless and complex journey for a committed group of local families. We are however, deeply frustrated that the process has taken so long - the additional school places were needed back in 2018 and the pressure on existing local schools has intensified year on year.
"Bristol City Council granted planning permission for the scheme back in 2020, so the protracted planning inquiry has further impacted the educational outcomes of local children. We hope that work on the site can begin swiftly and that soon young people from Lawrence Hill and the surrounding neighbourhood can benefit from a potentially life-changing new educational facility on their doorstep.
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Ms Harrison added the group looks forward to continuing our relationships with Oasis Academy Trust, Bristol City Council and the Department of Education to "ensure the new school is responding to the needs of the local community".
Oasis Academy Trust has said the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone will serve the community within Bristol as a co-educational Secondary academy for students aged 11 to 18. The new academy will follow the Oasis model of inclusion and will be open to those of all faiths and none. Admissions will be based on proximity to the academy, the trust has said.
John Murphy, chief executive officer at Oasis Community Learning said: “We are delighted that planning consent has been granted for the Silverthorne Lane Development – which will be home to Oasis Academy Temple Quarter.
“This is a fantastic milestone, and we are proud to be the chosen education provider for the new school, Oasis is dedicated to ensuring that in every community we serve, we offer an outstanding education for local young people. We are thrilled to be celebrating with the local community and all involved stakeholders.”
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The regeneration scheme will provide 367 new homes - 20 per cent of which will be affordable - and commercial space, a new research and learning building delivered by the University of Bristol as part of their emerging Temple Quarter Campus along with 693 student beds. A recommendation for approval was followed by a unanimous vote by Bristol City Council’s planning committee in August 2020, but Environment Agency objections citing flood risk matters in the wider Temple Quarter triggered a call-in from then Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick MP.
In her report on the public inquiry, Planning Inspector, Zoe Hill, said: “The applicant has demonstrated throughout the course of the Inquiry why its approach to flood risk has been cautious, thorough and proper”. Square Bay has extensive experience in regeneration around the city, with previous projects including the award-winning regeneration of Brandon Yard in Bristol’s Harbourside.
Tom Vaughan-Jones, director of Square Bay, said: “It is a huge relief to receive a positive decision from the Secretary of State, and a sense that justice is finally being served. It is incredibly frustrating that we have had to endure the delays and costs of a Public Inquiry, despite a unanimous resolution to grant planning permission by Bristol City Council back in August 2020.
"However, we are absolutely delighted that our approach has been validated, with both the Planning Inspector and the Secretary of State concluding that our measures to deal with flood risk are robust and thorough. A huge amount of work has gone into this landmark development for Bristol over a period of almost five years.
"It is regrettable that such a significant investment delivering so many public benefits and enjoying such cross-city support has been subject to such a costly delay having had such a question mark placed over it by the Environment Agency. The sense of relief we feel at the Housing Minister’s decision is matched by the feeling of excitement as we look forward to finally getting on with delivering what will be a vibrant new canal-side community at the gateway to central Bristol, creating new homes and employment opportunities, and providing fantastic educational facilities for young people in this part of the city."
Now that concerns over flood risk have been eliminated, work in the area is expected to start imminently. It is not yet known when construction will be completed.
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