Morpeth school horrified by police station plan

Nov 24 2009 by David Black, The Journal

PLANS to develop a new police station in a Northumberland town by building on a popular school's main playground have been branded "totally unacceptable".

Governors and staff at 360-pupil Morpeth County First are said to be “astounded and aghast” at the suggestion that part of the school site could be swallowed up by a replacement for the town’s Victorian police HQ.

Leaders of the school – which was rated outstanding by Ofsted following a 2007 inspection – say they made it clear to consultants acting for Northumbria Police in the summer that the idea was a non-starter.

Now they are surprised and annoyed that two out of four options being put forward for the redevelopment of the police station involve building on school land.

The ageing police station and the school are located next to each other in Goosehill, and the Northumbria Police Authority is carrying out a public consultation exercise on its redevelopment plans.

Yesterday Joan Tebbutt, who chairs the school’s governing body, said she and the headteacher were approached by consultants some months ago, and made it quite clear that a new police station could not be built on the front of the school site.

“We said this was not a possibility and the only answer would be a completely new school for us. We also stressed that the school site is extremely restricted, and therefore any option that removes the front playground and constructs a new wing on the remaining play areas was totally unacceptable.

“They said they would go away and think about it so we were aghast to find out last week that they are still proposing to build on our frontage. I have looked at the proposals and am totally astounded by them.

“This kind of proposal only creates concern for staff and parents. Since the governors would never accept the proposals anyway, that concern is totally avoidable and unnecessary.”

The two other options being put forward involve demolishing the existing police buildings and building a new three-storey station on the site, or modernising and extending the current station.

Police authority chairman Mick Henry said using part of the school site was only one of the possibilities being considered. “While we are aware of reservations expressed by the school, the county council supports this option as it is designed to be mutually beneficial.

“We’ve made it clear that if any part of the school should form part of the police station development, we will return an appropriate area to the school from the current police station site. No decision will be taken until we have had the chance to consult with everyone affected.”

The four options will be on display in Morpeth Town Hall on Friday between 1pm and 7pm, when local people can make their views known.