Housing slowdown delays council plans for county school's expansion
THE housing market meltdown has delayed part of a £10.5 million extension to a county secondary school due to a fall in developer contributions to the council.
Before the credit crunch the council had assumed it would collect 900,000 in contributions from housing developers for Livingston's St Margaret's Academy, but it hasn't received that, leaving a shortfall in cash available for key infrastructure in schools.
In total, the council has received just over 1.5m from developers for schools, but the budget for planned extensions at Livingston's St Margaret's, Bathgate and Linlithgow Academies is almost ten times that amount.
The Wester Inch housing development in Bathgate has also caused massive problems for the placement of pupils in Bathgate Academy's catchment area.
While the number of house completions in the county has decreased by more than half from 928 in 2007-8 to 422 last year, a number of schools are now oversubscribed, including 15 primaries – almost a quarter of the total number in West Lothian.
The council has now been forced to present new proposals to parents for a public consultation on which secondary schools primary pupils will attend in the north and west of the county as a result.
A council report also says that future residential development in West Lothian - Scotland's fastest growing area - will be "significantly constrained" after 2020 unless a new secondary school is built - currently proposed for Winchburgh.
Council leader Peter Johnston said: "The slowdown in the housing market has meant that there is an opportunity to divert council funds to support extensions and improvements at St Mary's Primary School and Linlithgow Academy.
"Funds will also be added to the West Lothian Local Infrastructure Fund so that the council can help to deliver key infrastructure projects which assist with the implementation of the West Lothian Local Plan.
"We are committed to providing quality denominational education in West Lothian."
But councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick believes the problems have stemmed from "bad decisions" by the council's planning committee.
He said: "The problems in this area of West Lothian have come about due to the lack of foresight by councillors from the administration on the planning committee.
"They were warned by planning officials that pushing through more housing developments in Bathgate could result in this mess and that's exactly what's happened. It's scandalous."
But executive councillor for education Andrew Miller said that catchment reviews would be now be a common occurrence in West Lothian due to the planned development of the area as a whole.
He added: "New housing is welcome in West Lothian and we will have to constantly find ways to cater for school placements.
"There is no doubt we will have enough places for schoolchildren but this will have to be revised from to time. This situation is not down to bad planning decisions, it's simply a need to find places in our schools due to the changes in West Lothian's population."
Due to the increased demand for school places, the council has changed its plans for Livingston's St Margaret's and Linlithgow Academies and St Mary's RC Primary in Bathgate.
Around 1.1m of developer contributions will now be used to help finance extensions at Linlithgow Academy and St Mary's Primary, leaving the council dependent on future contributions of 2m to finish St Margaret's.
The development at Wester Inch has also put severe pressure on St Mary's and the plan is to use money from the St Margaret's extension plans to increase capacity at St Mary's by 75 from 462 pupils to 537 at a cost of 330,000.
An additional 650,000 will now be used to for works to improve capacity in science at Linlithgow Academy and computer design technology (CDT) at an additional cost of 650,000. The total budget for extending the school is 1.5m.
Anne Thom, chairperson of Linlithgow Academy Parent Council has concerns over the new catchment proposals for the school.
She said: "We have been speaking to the council for the last 18 months and have some concerns over our catchment area which could be potentially quite difficult.
"The main area of concern for the council is coming out of Bathgate, which means that Linlithgow Academy will have to cater for a bigger catchment area at an already over-subscribed school.
"The council is well aware of our concerns and we just want to make sure it is done right."
The first extension at St Margaret's is complete and the second will start shortly to be finished in August next year.
The extensions will now be undertaken over four phases instead of three and will in line with expected housing development in West Lothian.
The other two phases are currently planned for 2016 and 2018, but the actual start date will now be determined by plans for a new denominational secondary school at Winchburgh.
Linlithgow Academy and St Margaret's in Livingston don't have enough space to satisfy demand for first choice applications for S1 places.
There are also 15 primaries out of 66 over-subscribed. They are: Armadale; Balbardie, Simpson (both Bathgate); Bellsquarry, Meldrum, Williamston, Livingston Village (all Livingston); Holy Family; Kirknewton; Linlithgow Bridge; Linlithgow, Low Port (Linlithgow); Peel (Eliburn); Seafield; St Anthony's (Armadale).
Livingston Village, Linlithgow Bridge and St Anthony's are over-subscribed by applications from pupils living within their own catchment area.
Other schools could also become over-subscribed from pupils who applied for other schools after the council has sorted through all the applications.
In Catholic primary schools, children who have been baptised will be prioritised over those who have not.
Whilst the council places high priority on granting applications for places at preferred schools, council officials are predicting more parents than ever will appeal if their requests for pupil placement at their local catchment schools are refused.
A council spokesman said: "Where a place is not granted, parents or carers can appeal the council's placement decision.
"We will take into account all of the circumstances at each individual school and determine what grounds of refusal there are.
"The council policy is for 25 pupils in P1 classes but there are also other compelling reasons to have such a limit in place, for example school capacity, limiting intake to ensure the school will not have too many pupils in classes at a future stage."
CATCHMENT PROPOSALS:
THE council's education executive has approved a formal public consultation on non-denominational secondary education in the north and west of the area.
The consultation involves the catchment areas of Armadale Academy, Bathgate Academy, Deans Community High School and Linlithgow Academy.
The seven-week consultation will start on Thursday, 22 April and finish on Wednesday, 16 June. Currently, associated primary schools are:
Armadale Academy: Armadale, Blackridge, Eastertoun, Westfield and Windyknowe. Children from the Windyknowe catchment are given a priority for placement at Bathgate Academy over other non-catchment pupils.
Bathgate Academy: Balbardie, Blackburn, Boghall, Murrayfield, Torphichen, Seafield and Simpson.
Deans Community High School: Carmondean, Deans, Knightsridge and Meldrum.
Linlithgow Academy: Bridgend, Linlithgow, Linlithgow Bridge, Low Port, Springfield and Winchburgh.
The council are proposing to remove the current priority afforded to children from Windyknowe PS when determining placing requests to Bathgate Academy.
Move Westfield PS from the Armadale Academy catchment area and Torphichen PS from the Bathgate catchment to Linlithgow Academy.
Move Seafield PS from Bathgate Academy catchment to the Deans Community High School catchment.
The council say these proposals are to balance school catchment areas, populations and accommodation.
The consultation will involve all pupils, parents and parent councils, staff and their representative trade unions and professional associations, including: the secondary schools, associated primary schools, neighbouring local authorities, and community councils.
Public meetings will be held at 7pm on: 12 May - Bathgate Academy; 13 May - Armadale Academy; 19 May - Linlithgow Academy; 27 May - Deans Community High School. Council officers will be present to discuss the proposals and there will be an opportunity to ask questions at the meeting.
People attending a public meeting can also submit advance questions for their chosen meeting in writing up to two days in advance by e-mailing: schoolconsultation@westlothian.gov.uk or write to Gordon Ford, Director of Education, West Lothian Civic Centre, Howden South Road, Livingston, EH54 6FF.
An online questionnaire will be available at www.westlothian.gov.uk from 22 April.
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Monday 21 May 2012
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