Plans for a free school rather than the relocation of a crumbling primary school on a former market site in Old Swan have been objected to “in the strongest possible terms” by the area’s MP.
It was revealed this week that Liverpool Council is to take a decision this week about whether to dispose of an unoccupied almost nine acre site on Prescot Road. The land is to be declared surplus to requirements and to be disposed of for educational use only.
As a result, the Department for Education (DfE) will be offered the location to build a new free school as the local authority wrestles with the challenges of a lack of school places across the city. However, Paula Barker, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, has written to Mayor Joanne Anderson and her cabinet to put across her disagreements with the proposed way forward.
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In a letter, seen by the ECHO, Ms Barker said she previously contacted the local authority in June to “express my significant concerns about the Council’s handling of the disposal of the land at the Fruit and Vegetable site and how this impacted St Anne (Stanley).” Ms Barker said that despite assurances from officers, the cabinet report is a step closer to removing the site as an option for St Anne (Stanley).”
In her letter, Ms Barker said she understood the need for the local authority to ensure sufficient secondary school places were available, but it “demonstrates bad faith for the Council to be in discussions with St Anne (Stanley) for such a significant amount of time, about using the site, only to change position after they have submitted a funding bid partially on the strength of these discussions.”
The Labour MP, who first took her seat in Parliament in 2019, said as a primary school, St Anne (Stanley) “simply do not have the type of flexibility that is enjoyed by a secondary school and more specifically the free school/academy which Kings Leadership Academy are looking to build, in terms of where a new site is located – I have made this point to the Council on several occasions.” Ms Barker said that she had proposed that the site of the old Manweb Club off Thingwall Road is considered as a potential site for the new secondary free school but was yet to receive a response as to why it is not being considered.
She added: “This matter is of the utmost urgency and importance, it is not viable for St Anne (Stanley) to continue in their current premises, as highlighted in the report, and I have grave fears that without the council affording the greatest priority to finding a solution, the future of this well respected school which has served my constituency for over 100 years could be under threat, resulting in a huge loss to the local community. I hope cabinet will consider these representations and make appropriate amendments to the paper to address the concerns expressed.”
The Diocese that manages St Anne’s previously identified part of the former fruit and veg site as being a suitable location for a new site. The council said further investigation is required to assess whether both schools could occupy the land and “through careful planning it may be technically possible”.
It was said this could be through reprovision of play areas elsewhere in the immediate vicinity e.g., by releasing the land currently occupied by the existing St Anne’s (Stanley) primary school as playing fields.
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