Residents vow to keep up protests against school site
Jun 30 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
FAMILIES have vowed to continue their fight against a £30m academy school near their homes – despite a compromise being found in a row over traffic disruption and road safety.
Campaigners in the South Beach area of Blyth, Northumberland, said they will maintain their strong opposition to the 630-pupil primary element of the all-age Bede Academy being built on the site of the local first school.
Many locals say their residential estate and its roads are not designed to take the additional students and traffic which will be generated by the new school.
They spoke out again yesterday despite academy sponsor the Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF) announcing that it has reached an agreement with brewery company Marston’s to avoid heavy construction traffic being routed along narrow and winding Shearwater Way.
Marston’s has dropped its original objection and will now allow an alternative access track for lorries to be created around the South Beach pub during the construction period.
It represents a partial victory for people living on Shearwater Way, who claimed they would face up to 18 months of traffic chaos and major disruption if heavy traffic was routed past their homes.
But yesterday resident Carol Innes, a member of a local liaison committee set up by the ESF to oversee the South Beach academy scheme, said campaigners would continue fighting for the school to be relocated right up until construction work starts later this month.
She said: “Our position remains that we want this school out of the area and we will continue fighting to get it out of South Beach. We have posters up all over the place saying Vardy Out and have already seen terrible traffic problems.
“This is simply the wrong place to put a school of this size and we will be out picketing with banners in the road when construction work starts. Feelings remain very strong.”
Fellow Shearwater Way resident Anne Patten said: “The site is just too small for this school and it is going to be horrendous for us.”
But another local, Mary Gray, said: “Getting construction lorries rerouted round the pub and off Shearwater Way is a victory, and at least we have achieved something. To me it is a relief.”
Yesterday David Vardy, project director with ESF, said the alternative access route will now be laid and building work on the South Beach academy is scheduled to start on July 21.
He said: “I am delighted that for the sake of residents in Shearwater Way and beyond, this matter has been resolved. Time was running out because of the programme of works so it was important that we pulled out all the stops to reduce the inconvenience for our neighbours.
“We recognise that not everyone supports the routing around the pub, but we can reassure any residents who feel they may be affected that we will do everything possible to lessen any adverse impact of the build.”
He said local residents will be given more details in a bulletin due to be delivered to homes this week.
The traffic row followed numerous objections to ESF’s application to build the new academy on the site of South Beach First school, doubling its size and number of pupils.
