SNP promised platform extension at Bishopbriggs

In April the Evening Times report this SNP promise...

£300m promise on rail network

The SNP's National Rail Improvement Plan are proposals for platform extensions at Queen Street and Bishopbriggs to allow increased capacity

Read the story in the Evening Times

Bats at St Ninian's

I understand that St Ninian's cannot be demolished as bats have been found.

Will this delay the Academy - only time will tell....

Site available as a Widget...

This site can now be downloaded as a Widget...

Keep up-to-date direct on your desktop, customise the look and information.

This free widget is available from Widgetbox

The number of viewers continue to rise and other sites have started to link here - thanks to everyone for their support.

Join the fight to stop the sale of land.

From this Wednesday's Evening Times (page 19)

100 residents protest at the sell of the, so called, 'surplus' land at the Thomas Muir site. A bigger school on a smaller site that has over forty conditions before the work can start.

You can see the report here (copyright Newsquest 2007)

Ex- Celtic players Tommy Gallagher and Charlie Gallagher back fight to stop housing plan at school site.

It seems crazy to sell off school land and then to share a pitch

Join the school board... more information here

East Dunbartonshire officers are not fit for purpose?

Liberal Democrat supporter Alastair McPhee puts the question:

I am becoming extremely exasperated by the decisions that our Councillors have taken regarding the major changes in Bishopbriggs. Can they do a John Reid and argue that the East Dunbartonshire officers are not fit for purpose or are is it just that our team are consistently picking the wrong option?

This is in response to the Evening Times article (below) you can read his comments here

More from this blog...

FibDems Scottish Liberal Democrats - you can't trust them This is the proof!

"Lib Dem donor jailed for dishonesty" Read it here

Oh No Jo.... Again Read it here

Bus giant supports parents in school row

BUS giant First has joined forces with a group of parents fighting a decision to sell off school land as part of a closure plan.

Councillors have given the go-ahead to a controversial site for the new Bishopbriggs Academy on the outskirts of the town, despite huge concerns raised by parents.

© Newsquest 2007

The new school is to go on the site of the former Thomas Muir High School in Wester Cleddens Road, Woodhill.

But campaigners say some children will be forced to walk too far to get to the new school.

More from Evening Times

Stand for the Academy School Board

Elections will be held this March for a new Academy Board. All parents/guardians are entitled to stand.



Please ask your children to collect an application form from the school. It has to be completed and returned before the deadline of 3pm, Thursday March 1st.

Any parent/guardian can become a board member and it is worthwhile, you will be asked to attend meetings that help make decisions on your children's education.

Six vacancies exist and unless more than six parents apply NO elections will be held and those that apply will automatically become members.

HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE NEW ACADEMY AND THE EDUCATION OF YOUR CHILDREN - APPLY NOW.

The head teacher is NOT a member of the board, but should attend the meeting and make presentations to the board.

Sign the petition to save the "surplus' land

Please sign the Woodhill Residents petition to try and stop the developers selling the 'surplus' land on the Thomas Muir site.

Remember the promise that the Thomas Muir site was larger, Square etc.

Now it looks like the new school, that has to accommodate TWICE the number of pupils than the present school, will be built on a smaller site.

The promised sports improvement will have to be shared.

Read more here

If you want the children of Bishopbriggs to have the best school possible then sign the petition.

Stop the land sale and force the council and developers to use this land for education, as it is now.

You can sign here it only takes a minute.

Petition:
We the undersigned object to the idea of land being sold on the Thomas Muir Site, while pupils are forced to use nearby school playing fields, there is inadequate drop off facilities and the school may be built too close to the Torr Road houses.

Petition organised by Donald MacDonald

Bats are more important than your childrens safety

If bats are found on or around the site of the new Bishopbriggs Academy then developers CANNOT proceed until their future has been addressed.

Yet - a travel plan, that the council admit, does NOT meet requirements is NOT a matter that they decided could delay the new school.

Council leader, John Morrison, admitted that he had not, in his long history of sitting on the planning board, seen a submission that had so many conditions attached due to the inadequacies of the original plans.

Yet - he was happy to approve it!

It will now go to for approval to the Scottish Executive, objectors can put their case to them to reject this 'flawed' submission - last night approved by the Liberal Democrat run East Dunbartonshire Council.

Approved after six hour meeting

The building will go ahead, despite various concerns, that the council agreed with!

Including the admission that the school travel plan submitted was a shambles!

Councillor Morrison and his Lib Dem colleagues had no hesitation but to vote for approval despite the amendment proposal of a two week delay for the developers to submit updated plans.

Done deal...

Compromise - Bishopbriggs Academy and the PPP

The Academy was moved from it's intended site in the town centre on the promise of a better school not restricted by the site problems at the High School site.
Better sports provision and an improved design.
All the pupils would be moved to the High School and the site at Thomas Muir cleared with a new super school built.
No, site restrictions at Thomas Muir!

Lots of prime land at the High School site - just no good for a school - if you believe the Lib Dems

What has happened...

All our children are 'shoehorned' into Bishopbriggs High (1300 pupils) the school was built for less than a 1000.

Meanwhile the existing Thomas Muir School, that should have been demolished, is now being used by another school while they have a brand new school built on their 'cleared' site.

The promised sports provision is being 'shoehorned' onto the 'smaller site' plus 'bolted on' from two neighbouring Primary Schools (one across a main road).

The design of the school has to be 'shoehorned' into the only space left while the existing school is being used.

Amazingly, with all this known, the developers still believe there is 'surplus' land to be sold for profit at the Thomas Muir site.

The prime Bishopbriggs High School site will make them millions and Turnbull High will provide even more 'surplus' land to add to the windfall.

Ask yourself, if this is what the people of Bishopbriggs were sold when the Council decide to move the school for 'better educational' reasons.

Ask yourself, if the Interim School Board have keep you informed (their duty) of what has happened and taken 'your' advice?

Ask yourself, when May comes. you can then decide if this Council, who represent you, have done a good job!

Ask yourself, when the election for the new Academy School Board, that should have taken place in August 2006, if you want this board to continue.

Decide if I was wrong to tell you, from the start, that Bishopbriggs have compromised during a project where Bishopbriggs is the ONLY area to LOSE a school.

Comments welcome...

The shape of schools to come?

Interesting story on school design from the BBC...

Passing a large volume of children through a narrow opening like a corridor or stairwell is bound to create friction and problems, he says.

All the major incidents of children being injured or stabbed in schools have occurred in corridors, he claims.

The new Bishopbriggs Academy corridors are narrow - a 'one way' system is being considered.

This means schools of the future have to be large-scale open spaces

So planners have to understand what the education of the future will be like to prevent them designing something that will soon become outdated.

The planners are working within the constraints of building while the old school, this should have been demolished. It is being used by the council during construction to accommodate St Ninians from another town. A new St Ninians is being built on their site AFTER their school is knocked down to provide a clear site. The public of Bishopbriggs were never given a choice in this.

more from BBC

also from the BBC...

Many new-built schools 'mediocre'

Half of a sample of 52 secondary schools built in England in the last five years were at best "mediocre", government design advisers say.

More from BBC

Drains at Thomas Muir site

This information has been sent to the site...

The planning application for the Academy claims that there is no history of flooding at the Academy site. This is patently untrue as both of the schools have had to have large stone filled drains installed recently to deal with run off surface water. Even this has not completely resolved this problem as this photograph shows.

Comment...

I looks like this is at an entrance gate.

Accident at Woodhill Primary

Reports have been sent to me regarding an incident ON the campus at Woodhill Primary this morning.

My information is that a child fell and hit his head on parked car's tow bar while in the school grounds. A paramedic was first to attend the call followed by an ambulance. The child was taken to Yorkhill Hospital and has since been released.

This issue will be raised at several meetings over the following days.

Woodhill Primary is next door to the proposed site of the new Bishopbriggs Academy.

SportScotland publish guidelines

SportScotland has published a guide to sports provision in Scotland's Schools.

They are concerned at the loss of so many pitches particularly with PPP projects.

The Bishopbriggs Academy DOES NOT meet their recommendations for sports pitch provision.

Here is the Herald story

And how the Scotsman covered it

SportScotland guide lines

Planning board meeting

Dear James

Can I ask you to remind your readers of the details of the Planning Board meeting which will be held in Tom Johnston House this coming Tuesday 16th January.

"It is important that Councillors are made aware of the interest across Bishopbriggs in the details of this planning application. The school will be with us for the next 30 years so it is vital that the correct decisions are made by councillors on that night."

The meeting starts at 5 pm.

"The fight for a school that Bishopbriggs can be proud of for the next 30 years is coming to a conclusion. We owe it to our children and their children to say we fought for the best possible school - not just the cheapest option."

Their futures depend on us. See you there.

Donald Macdonald

yours

Donald Macdonald
Chair
Woodhill Residents Group

Scotland is building more shopping centres than ever … but are there enough shops to fill them?

© Google Earth

SCOTLAND IS poised for a retail development boom with more than 1.5 million square feet of new shopping space scheduled to open during 2007, according to newly compiled figures.

The flood of space combined with troubled times on the high street, however, has left somepropertyagentswonderingif there will be enough retailers on the expansion trail to fillout all the corridors. Compiled by realestateconsultants Colliers CRE, the numbers only include major schemes and not the individual shops, smaller supermarkets and retail parks popping up around the country.

More from Sunday Herald

And Bishopbriggs looks like adding another.

But then Churchill Way was demolished as it failed!

Other shop units are standing empty in the town centre.

Kirkintilloch Shopping Centre is struggling.

Only time will tell

SportScotland 'not happy' at schools facilities...

From today's 'Herald' newspaper

SportScotland have expressed concerns over the sports facilities East Dunbarton Council have proposed in their PPP schools project.

Particular reference is made to the sale of 'surplus' land when this could be used for sport facilities (see earlier posts).

This is exactly what is happening on the Thomas Muir site were they are now being asked to share sports facilities with TWO neighbouring primary schools.

Read the article for yourself here in the Herald

Apples and Oranges?

The Transport Assessment is available on the council web site under planning. It also has an updated map (Sketch) of the changed access on Wester Cleddens Road (as posted earlier on the site).

Can you see anything wrong with the Site Location Plan (below) that compares the Bishopbriggs High School site and the Thomas Muir site? Why has the entire site at Thomas Muir been highlighted but only the school at Bishopbriggs High?
Surly not to make one site look larger than the other!


Reproduced under the terms of Faber Maunsell "INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY" as published on their web site.

The plan indicates that Accident data has been requested from East Dunbartonshire Council but has NOT been provided.
(Page15 3.8)

Another interesting point was the bus journeys to school taken by pupils of Bishopbriggs High School and Thomas Muir before amalgamation.

Bishopbriggs High 5% (around 50 pupils) used the bus to get to school
Thomas Muir High 35% (around 200 pupils) used the bus to get to school

Thomas Muir had only 480 pupils (same report) my maths make 200 pupils around 42% not 35% or almost half.
Does that show it's more difficult to access this site?

The plan also agrees that Bishopbriggs Railway Station is now outside the Scottish Executive guidelines - that the acceptable walking distance for rail stations to a place of education or place of employment is 800m. Therefore, rail travel is not considered a viable transport mode for pupils or staff of Bishopbriggs Academy.

Not the case if the High School site had been agreed as public consultation wished.

Amazingly on page 20 the another map indicates bus stops and shelters. One of the stops is marked on the bus terminus which may not exist as it's part of the 'surplus' land the developers want to sell!

East Dunbartonshire Council policy on dealing with traffic impacts of new development is
provided in their memo of 18 January 2005 provided in Appendix B.

Under traffic impact...

During the time of writing, utilities works in Bishopbriggs Town Centre on Kirkintilloch Road
have been underway and this will have a significant impact on the traffic patterns within
Bishopbriggs as a whole. Therefore, it has not been possible to obtain any meaningful survey
data in the vicinity of the Thomas Muir site and no historic data was available either.

Importantly, the roads memo states...

“The implication of the above is that traffic capacity issues should not be used as a reason for refusing a planning application which the Planning Service is minded to grant….”

Two access options are proposed - as far as I am aware - no decision has been made on planning approval for the new school. I am also aware that work has started to create an access point indicated on one of the options.

Has the work has started before approval.

Worryingly on page 38

7.6.3.5 Rail Measures
Milngavie rail station is 1.6km walk from the school is above the maximum walking threshold
figure of 800m specified by the Scottish executive.

"Milngavie rail station" Same plan used for different schools or what?

Happy New Year

2007

Travel Plan

This comment has been left by a reader...

I've read the 50 odd page travel plan on the council site re the survey that was completed in October - all the bus routes mentioned come in and out of this terminus.

Also the Council reckon only 74 children will be disadvantaged by the move to TM. The bus routes they quote almost all come in and out of GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL areas- not East Dunbartonshire.

They dismiss Meadowburn and Balmuidy in one sentence and Kenmure in two, in a whole report of 50 pages! Guess it's just tough if you live in Meadowburn.

It looks like the school is going to be used in future by people from Glasgow area. so much for EDC council taxpayers!

I don't think the Council are building a school to benefit Glasgow - they have stopped almost all secondary placing requests.

As I said at the meeting...

"I wonder if the plan will be carried out after the pupils have ALL moved to the High School site and the Thomas Muir site is unoccupied?"

That's exactly what happened, in October - possibly in the school holidays.

Still undecided if this decision was made for the 'educational' benefit of the children?

2007 here we come...