School debate turns into a political row

Debbie Abrahams MP

AN MP has accused an action group of using the debate over the future of a new secondary school for Saddleworth as a political football.

Debbie Abraham’s remarks came after the Save Diggle Action Group (SDAG) claimed in a statement that she would not commit to support their campaign to stop the proposed £15 million school moving to Diggle.

Earlier, the MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth met David Laws, the schools minister, a representative of the Education Funding Agency and Councillor Amanda Chadderton, Oldham Council cabinet member for education.

Councillor Chadderton described the meeting as very positive, adding: “We discussed the proposed Diggle site and reaffirmed our commitment to finding the best solution for young people and the local community.

“This includes tackling the proposed highways and traffic issues — which we know are the priority concerns for residents.

“Originally we did want to locate the new school building at the rear of the Diggle site. However, this would increase the project costs by a prohibitive sum in the region of £2-3 million, which is significantly over the allocated EFA budget for this project.

“Despite Oldham Council’s continuing budget challenge, it has already put aside a substantial seven-figure sum towards the project costs not covered by the EFA’s own finite budget for this scheme: such as improvements to highways and traffic issues.

“We remain committed to working co-operatively with all partners to find the best possible way forward.”

Mrs Abrahams said: “I emphasised that the majority of people want a new school but there are genuine concerns with the proposed Diggle site.

“The discussion focused on traffic and the visual impact on the area if the school was built at the front of the site.

“Councillor Chadderton confirmed the council would be undertaking a traffic-impact assessment and had budgeted for remedial work to widen the road.

“However, the minister and EFA confirmed the council would have to do all the work to prepare the site for development.

“As far as the minister is concerned, if the council wants to build at the back of the site it is up to them but they would be responsible for the demolition of the old pallet works and repairs to the listed building, which are estimated at over £2 million, as well as making safe other aspects of the site.

“With the council’s funding cut by nearly a half and another £50 million to find in 2015/16, it is difficult to see how they will be able to afford this.”

But after she made a teleconference to members of SDAG, Mike Buckley, one of the organisers, said there had been no discussion with the minister and other officials about the potential reuse of the school’s existing site in Uppermill.

He said: “She felt unable at this stage to commit to the SDAG campaign in opposing the school being rebuilt in Diggle and admitted that she was taking Oldham Council plans for the re-siting of a new school for Saddleworth on trust. But after further questioning from SDAG she did agree to assist in gaining speedy access to the pertinent documents relating to why the existing site has been ruled out by Oldham Council and facilitate a meeting with Councillor Jim McMahon and Oldham Council to address the group’s urgent concerns.”

Keith Lucas, a member of the action group, said “I don’t think Mrs Abrahams appreciates the strength of local opinion on this issue.

“She referred in our conversation to the views of the silent majority. The silent majority we feel has been kept in the dark, but now the cat is out of the bag opposition is growing by the hour.”

But Mrs Abrahams said: “This is a distortion of what I said in a 45-minute conference call with the SDAG.

“I’m disappointed the new Saddleworth School appears to be being used as a party political football rather than working together to find the best solution for everyone in Saddleworth, particularly our young people.

“As I said at the teleconference, I’m keeping an open mind about the siting of the school and have agreed to facilitate a meeting between SDAG and the council so that both sides can get a clear understanding of the issues surrounding this important project.”