Council U-turn
saves school
by Gary Skentelbery
A U-TURN by the town’s education chiefs has helped save a primary school earmarked for closure.
Education chiefs at Warrington have performed a u-turn securing the future of Longbarn Community Primary School in the town.
Pupils, parents, teachers and school governors are now celebrating their victory.
Originally, closure of the school, to save 183 places, was one of a number of options being considered to take account of dwindling numbers of primary school pupils across the town.
But now the council’s executive board has decided the school should stay open – and has praised residents for the responsible way they campaigned against the closure.
Executive member for education, Coun Maureen Banner, said parents, teachers and school governors and worked together and showed great community spirit They had done their own study of the strategic needs for the future which showed the school should remain open.
The council, for its part, had responded to the responsible campaign.
Delighted chairman of the school governors Derek Lockie, who helped co-ordinate a campaign which saw hundreds of letters of protest and a 3,000 name petition, said: “This is a victory for the pupils, parents and the whole community. It is thanks to people power.
“The support for our campaign has been overwhelming and it is a victory for parental choice.”
He said it was important for the school, which is this year celebrating its 30th anniversary, to make people aware that it now had a secure future.
After considering the objections, education chiefs decided to drop the option, revealing that closing the school would have required about ?250,000 to be spent on mobile classrooms at Padgate CE Primary School.
Instead, council chiefs have approved reductions of 105 places at Padgate CE Primary and Cinnamon Brow CE Primary. They believe this will provide flexibility to allow parental preference to be exercised and to allow for more than expected numbers of pupils from new developments.
Work starts on new
?27m campus project
by Gary Skentelbery
WORK has started on a new ?27 million campus at Warrington Collegiate.
The project is the largest development of its kind in Warrington and is set to revolutionise education facilities in the town. The new campus will include a ?3.5m Business School, a theatre, a training restaurant, hairdressing and beauty salons and a major construction skills centre.
The striking curved glass and brick structure, featuring environmentally friendly energy systems, replaces the apartment-style building, which has been a part of Warrington’s landscape for more than 30 years.
The new campus, located within the current site, will be completed in April 2006 and be open for the following September term, the first phase of new campus involves the building of a Technology Centre and finished by June next year. Once work on the new building is finished then the current campus block, which officially opened in 1970 as Warrington Technical College, will be demolished.
As part of the development ?1m will be invested into the development of sports facilities at neighbouring William Beamont High School.
Principal Paul Hafren Hafren says the plans would completely modernise the Winwick Road campus.
Colin Daniels, chairman of governors at the Collegiate and chief executive of the Warrington Chamber of Commerce, said he was delighted the construction had begun at last was looking forward to the completion of the new campus.
Police warn of 12% rise
in costs – or cuts
by David Skentelbery
HOUSEHOLDERS in Warrington face a 12 per cent increase in council tax for police services alone, if cuts in service are to be avoided.
This was revealed at a meeting of Warrington Police Forum.
This is because Cheshire Police received a lower than average grant from the Government, the meeting was told.
The increase – which works out at 23 pence a week for an average household, would be necessary to avoid cuts in the number of police officers, police staff and services.
Forum members were advised that cuts were being considered to keep increases to a single figure, but those present urged the authority not to cut services and to raise a realistic council tax to protect services.
They were told their comments would be considered by the authority before the council tax levy was set next month.
Warrington division chief Supt Julia Clayton and Chief Insp David Bertenshaw reported on police activity in the division, including the level of crime and the positive results achieved in the prevention and detection of crime, particularly burglary and vehicle crime.
They explained of partnership working to improve community safety, the success of policing initiatives and operations targeting violent crime and alcohol related anti-social behaviour.
The meeting also heard of the work of the of the Community Action Teams, which was successfully targeting crime and anti-social behaviour, resulting in several arrests being made and dispersal and anti-social behaviour orders issued.
A number of issues were raised, including funding for Community Support Officers, what was classed as a violent crime, road safety, the sale of alcohol to minors in Culcheth, noise disturbance caused by mini-motorcycles in Great Sankey and the law with regard to the riding of motorised scooters.
Police Authority member Bob Hodson, who chaired the meeting, said: “The meeting has enabled the people of Warrington to be consulted on the authority’s budget proposals which will impact on the level of policing provided in the future, and the views raised will be considered when the authority agrees the budget on February 15.”
The next meeting of the Forum on May 10 will be at a new venue – The Gateway, Sankey Street, Warrington.
A three per cent (or 7p per week for a Band D property) increase would still require ?3.2m cuts in expenditure and the loss of more than 50 police staff posts.
?1.3 million deal
boosts Wolves
by John Hendon
WARRINGTON Wolves have benefitted from a ?1.3 million finance package from the Royal Bank of Scotland.
RBS commercial banking in Warrington has provided the package to Warrington Sports Holdings Ltd, helping the sports and leisure company to fulfil their five year business development plan.
Warrington Sports Holdings incorporates Warrington Football Club Ltd, which trades as Warrington Wolves Rugby League club. The company has an annual turnover of ?3.5 million and employs more than 30 staff.
The Rugby League club dates back to 1879 and until recently was based at Wilderspool.
But in 2002, Warrington Borough Council agreed that a new stadium with a capacity of 14,196 seats, together with corporate facilities, could be built for the club on the old Tetley Brewery site on Winwick Road.
Warrington Wolves relocated in January last year to their new location – The Halliwell Jones Stadium.
As well as staging Rugby League matches, the stadium offers extensive conference and banqueting facilities for 10 to 450 people. This construction, along with the neighbouring Tesco supermarket, has been a much-needed regeneration of this part of Warrington.
Warrington Sports Holdings has recently agreed a lease with Warrington NHS Primary Care Trust who are undertaking major development works to the East Stand.
When complete, this will provide self-contained multi health services which will benefit the borough-wide community.
The financing, which was arranged by Steve Turton, property finance specialist at RBS commercial banking in Warrington, included a debt facility and a related risk management solution to protect the customer from adverse interest rate movements. The remaining part of the package consisted of an electronic banking service and cash handling facilities.
Andy Gatcliffe, chief exec
utive of Warrington Sports Holdings said: “We are very pleased with the close working partnership that we have developed with RBS, both from the funding and banking perspectives. It is also of great benefit to us having local decision makers in Warrington who can provide us with quick responses to our financing requirements”.
Mr Turton added “We have worked closely with Andy and his management team to create a financial package that fulfils their aspirations for the next five years. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship for the long term future.”
Wolves’ chief executive Andy Gatcliffe, chairman Lord Hoyle and club mascot Wolfie celebrate with RBS officials.
[Girl, 19, victim
of sex attack
by David Skentelbery
A 19-year-old girl was dragged into an alleyway at Warrington and subjected to a serious sex attack.
The attack occurred as the girl walked home along Wellington Street, Howley, in the early hours of the morning.
She noticed she was being followed by a man and when she reached the alleyway he grabbed her and dragged her along it and committed the offence.
The girl was left uninjured but extremely shaken. The man ran off along Wellington Street towards the town centre.
Police said the man was aged about 25-30, about 5ft 10 inches tall and of slim build. He had short, cropped dark hair and was wearing a black top and dark trousers.
Anyone who witnessed the attack or who has any information is asked to contact DC Claire Barker or DC Karen Lawton on 01244 613837.
Housing chiefs take court
action against tenants
by staff reporter
GOLDEN Gates Housing – the arms length company which manages housing for Warrington Borough Council – has taken tough action against five tenants who failed to allow access to their home for a gas safety check.
The company obtained court injunctions in respect of each of the five tenants after they failed to reply to letters, cards, home visits and even putting a large banner across the door of the properties.
All the notices highlighted the danger of not allowing access to carry out the annual safety check.
Two of the five tenants subsequently responded and allowed the essential check to be carried out.
If the three remaining tenants do not respond they could face a jail sentence or the loss of their home.
Angela Perry, commercial business manager at Golden Gates Housing, said: “We have a legal obligation to carry out a gas safety check once a year. Taking this action shows that we will not compromise on the safety of our tenants and their homes and that we will take the necessary action to ensure the checks are carried out”.
Golden Gates Housing manages 9,500 homes for the council and has its own board made up of tenants, councillors and independent members of the public.
