Good news for Towerbank

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 09 Feb 2006, 17:37

With all the talk recently of a new PHS and a new St Johns, there seemed to be a grave danger that Towerbank Primary School was going to be overshadowed. The following message from Lawrence Marshall therefore comes as very welcome news to hundreds of local parents:

Dear All

I thought, having just come out of the Council's budget setting meeting, that you might like to know that both the Labour and Liberal Democrat Groups found in their budget the required Â£1.4 million to make up the shortfall in funding to allow Towerbank Annexe to be closed and a new-build extension constructed to allow the school to operate from one site rather than the split-site which is currently the case. The Conservative Group found no cash for this while the SNP Group didn't propose a budget (it's quite a task for just one councillor!).

The Labour Group motion allocated Â£900,000 in 2006/7 and Â£500,000 in 2007/8. The Liberal Democrat motion allocated Â£1,400,000 in 2006/7. The Labour Group motion was passed.

I remember this issue being around in 1994 when I was first elected to Lothian Regional Council - and it had been on the agenda for a fair number of years before that! That it has taken so long to resolve well illustrates the difficulties councils face in trying to finance even quite small-scale projects through traditional means given the many schemes vying for limited cash across all service areas. How then could we ever find Â£30 million or more for a new Portobello High School and St John's Primary School? And, if we could, how long would that take?

Towerbank would have been the last split-site primary school in the city had this funding not been found. I am very grateful indeed to my colleague Councillor Maureen Child for all her hard work in the budget process for making today's decision possible and I look forward to the opening of a unified Towerbank as a definite in the near future rather than a mere aspiration outwith our grasp.

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 09 Feb 2006, 18:23

Now that IS good news.

er, what does it mean then? Does it mean that the reconstruction at Towerbank will start in 2006/7? To get that expenditure in (and that's the shortfall, not the total) would presumably rely on starting in Autumn 2006, and would also (or would it...) mean having the annexe sold by then?

And will it mean fettling up of the existing building is also going ahead?

yours excitedly,

an anonymous magnolian

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 10 Feb 2006, 10:49

Not sure. I have asked the chair of the school board for more info.

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 10 Feb 2006, 14:50

And here's his reply:

Hello Bob,

I have no information to add at this stage ( less than 24 hours after the decision!)

We have already contacted the authority to ask for this information which won't be immediately available. Remember that it is less than 3 weeks since we were told , in person by Roy Jobson and Ewan Aitken , that our concerns about accommodation could not be met. The property people here will not have anything on the stocks other than that which is already posted on the school website.

Firm plans and proper detail of programmes of work will be obtained asap and outline proposals will be shared.

We will be organizing a parents meeting with Councillors and officials in the next few weeks to share information about plans for Towerbank, and also for the High School- (in which our parents have a strong interest).

David Simpson

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 13 Feb 2006, 19:33

From Lawrence:

Dear All

Following my e-mail to you of last Thursday (9 February 2006) announcing that the Council had managed to budget for the Â£1.4m projected shortfall in funding to allow Towerbank to operate from one integrated site, I thought that this report - to be considered by the Council Executive tomorrow - might well be of further interest to you in that it fleshes out some of the details involved in bringing this about and also provides some statistics re. school roll projections, etc.. It's obvious that the report was written before our funding decision of last week! - reports are in the public domain usually around a week before meetings.

The report can be viewed at http://cpol.edinburgh.gov.uk/getdoc_ext.asp?DocId=77952

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 14 Feb 2006, 00:03

Well, thanks for that.

All I need now is someone to explain where Â£1.4m comes into the equation and how any of that report relates to spending it in 2006/7 and 2007/8, when we have to wait until 2010 for the capital works?

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 14 Feb 2006, 00:17

Questions, questions. I'm off to bed.