Khalsa School to stay in Stoke Poges

[guest666]

Eric Pickles has overruled the Planning Inspector and South Bucks Council

So that will mess up free bus transport for Stoke Poges residents from 2015!

[southbucks3]

Crazy crazy crazy

[scary mum]

The whole thing is a joke. Why bother with planning applications, appeals an inspectorates when everyone knew that Pickled would overturn it anyway? It's outrageous. Who says we live in a democracy? And think of the money that has been spent when the outcome was never going to be any different.

[mystery]

I've just looked Khalsa Primary School up on the DfE performance tables. I'd send my children there like a shot! Won't the secondary school be as good?

[scary mum]

Mystery, the issue is that it is a school where it is not needed, and they will be shipping in children from afar. The school is needed in Slough, but Slough say they do not have room (in spite of having an empty school building), and have somethign like 6 schools planned just over the border in South Bucks. The site of teh Khalsa school is in a converted office building and is in green belt along a quiet road with no pavements. 100 seater coaches that are planned to bus in the children will cause all manner of problems locally - the main issues are noise & traffic (as well as green belt). I could go on & on. There is also the issue that local children will find that their nearest school will be a Sikh school, which may not be what they would choose, but it would mean losing thei free transport to the school that most local children currently attend. There has been a lot of bad feeling and really unpleasant tactics regarding the whole project,and it has all been very nasty, to the point where the relationship between the school and the local community has been competely soured. I agree that it is likely to be a very good school, but the whole thing has been a shocking waste of money (starting with paying over the odds for the site), and should be put where it is needed, rather that moving children around west London and surrounding counties.

[southbucks3]

If you are interested and have the time, check out all the articles in the bucks free press.

Sadly this is a case of done one getting their own way, riding rough shot over a small village community, simply because they have vast amounts of disposable income.

The promotional pages of the school contain the words that all religions are embraced within the school, but the gallery, the reality and the ethos says different.

No one has any objections to the Sikh community at all, the objections are towards the inappropriate location of the school snd the way in which the person establishing the school has gone about the business.

The villagers now seem to be in a battle not to have other village facilities appropriated by the same establishment for somewhat exclusive use by the schools founder and his personal community. It's a bit of a rich land owner v commoners battle to be honest.

I must re-iterate, the bone of contention is not with the Sikh community as a whole.

[mystery]

Ah right. Sorry did not realise I had put my foot in a hornets' nest but if there was a huge building up for sale wasn't there a chance that it was going to involve some form of traffic each day for it to be occupied?

I thought maybe that there had been nothing big in that village before but how many people worked in the building when it was an office? It looks like an ugly great building on the school website. They must have got to work each day somehow.

How many coaches would need to drive in and out of the village each day? Doesn't sound like a big school really. Everyone sounds so despondent on your Bucks forum about rubbish non-selectives I thought this one looked rather promising.

If there isn't enough demand for it within a reasonable distance it will either suffer from a lack of funding, or it will attract pupils from worse performing schools whose budget will then suffer. Which is likely to happen? Sorry I don't know how people think in South Bucks. I'd go for the better school whether or not it was a Sikh school. Plenty of children go to Catholic and Church of England schools at both primary and secondary school without their parents caring whether they believe in any of it.

How much is because it is Sikh? And how much because of other arguments?

[mystery]

If you are interested and have the time, check out all the articles in the bucks free press.

Sadly this is a case of done one getting their own way, riding rough shot over a small village community, simply because they have vast amounts of disposable income.

The promotional pages of the school contain the words that all religions are embraced within the school, but the gallery, the reality and the ethos says different.

No one has any objections to the Sikh community at all, the objections are towards the inappropriate location of the school snd the way in which the person establishing the school has gone about the business.

The villagers now seem to be in a battle not to have other village facilities appropriated by the same establishment for somewhat exclusive use by the schools founder and his personal community. It's a bit of a rich land owner v commoners battle to be honest.

I must re-iterate, the bone of contention is not with the Sikh community as a whole.

Ah right. Which bits of the village are under threat now? It's one of the wealthiest villages in England isn't it? Which one of the villagers is wanting to sell their properties to someone connected with the free school now? Why would they do that if they don't want the school there?

[southbucks3]

It's more to do with halls and the like I think? I am not really up on it, but it does take up a lot of column inches.

[scary mum]

Ah right. Sorry did not realise I had put my foot in a hornets' nest but if there was a huge building up for sale wasn't there a chance that it was going to involve some form of traffic each day for it to be occupied?

Yes, but the numbers allowed when it was an office were far below the numbers who will be there in a 1000 pupil school. Also they will have to expand if they are to have all 7 years, which is not allowed for in the current planning application (which was turned dowen twice anyway). No-one beleives that they won't build, because of course that will be forced through too, otherwise how would they operate as a school?

I thought maybe that there had been nothing big in that village before but how many people worked in the building when it was an office? It looks like an ugly great building on the school website. They must have got to work each day somehow.

Something like 150? I can't remeber the exact number, but there are spaces for about 30 cars I believe (ny numbers may be out!), so no space for 6th formers to park (surrounding roads, I believe) or for the 10 100 seater coaches which will all be arriving at once.

If there isn't enough demand for it within a reasonable distance it will either suffer from a lack of funding

There will be plenty of demand, but not locally.

How much is because it is Sikh? And how much because of other arguments?

I think it is slightly unfortunate that it is Sikh, as this has obviously led to accusations of racism (and nimbyism, of course). I do believe that the same arguments would have held whatever type of school it was. Except, of course, there may have been more local children once the school was established. However, there is currenly no shoratge of secodndary school places in South Bucks, but there is in Slough.