City academy approved
Nov 23 2007 by Dave Black, The Journal
PLANS to build Northumberland’s first city academy were finally given the go-ahead yesterday – amid warnings that further delay could put at risk a golden educational opportunity for local children.
County councillors approved a bid by the Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF) to create the £30m, all-age Bede Academy on two separate sites in Blyth.
It will consist of a 1,150-student secondary academy on the former Ridley High School site in The Avenues and a 630-pupil junior academy next to the existing South Beach First School.
The joint ESF/county council application failed to win the backing of the planning and regulation committee at two previous meetings, but yesterday’s decision means building work will start in January, with the aim of the schools opening in September 2009.
Committee members were told there are no suitable or available alternative sites for the academy, which will operate alongside Blyth’s existing Community College.
Yesterday’s meeting at County Hall heard impassioned support for the academy from Blyth parents, headteachers and prominent local businessman Alan Ferguson.
They said it would help tackle problems of low achievement and support the regeneration of Blyth’s school buildings, and warned that a fantastic opportunity could be lost if the project was further delayed.
But the decision was a disappointment for more than 700 people living close to the two sites who have signed petitions or letters claiming the new schools will destroy their quality of life.
They told yesterday’s meeting they will face traffic mayhem twice a day, suffer problems from illegal and indiscriminate parking outside their homes and warned that putting the new buildings in the middle of narrow residential streets was a recipe for serious road accidents.
Committee members voted 12-1 in favour of the secondary academy and 11-2 for the junior academy, after being told that stringent measures will be taken to protect the amenities of neighbours.
