Other
We are continually being informed that around £20 million has been invested within Blaenavon during the last 5 years. How much of this money has come from Torfaen’s Capital Budget? How much of this money has been funded from outside sources and who contributed?
The £20million was spent over 8 years (1999/2000 to 2007/08) and includes capital and direct revenue spend.
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Profile of funding source
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Amount
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Torfaen County Borough Council
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£6m
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Welsh Assembly Government
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£5.1m
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Department for the Environment and Transport (formerly the Welsh Development Agency)
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£3m
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Wales Tourist Board
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£175,000
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Heritage Lottery Fund
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£2m
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Heads of the Valley Programme
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£2.5m
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European Regional Development Fund
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Nearly £1.7m
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Local Regeneration Fund
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Nearly £2m
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Physical Regeneration Fund
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Just over £1m
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CADW
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£47,000
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School Building Improvement Grant
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£56,000
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Sports Council for Wales
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£85,000
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Miscellaneous Grants
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£61,000
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Total
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£23.7 million
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The Campus is up a large hill, what will happen about transport?
As part of the planning process, a traffic impact assessment will be conducted and this will lead to recommendations about the impact of additional traffic on the road and also around public transport and how that can be enhanced to meet the needs of the site.
How accessible will the Campus be?
The Campus will be fully Disability Discrimination Act complaint.
Are there any plans to charge for car parking on the Campus?
There are currently no plans to charge for car parking on the campus.
What other sites did you look at?
In total, 5 sites were considered for housing the Campus. These sites were considered by a consultant and the results of their analysis are contained within the Final Feasibility Study. The 5 sites and the reasons why they were discounted are as follows:
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Blaenavon Health Care Unit - Not big enough, a suitable access could not be provided and other sites were closer to the town centre.
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St Peter’s Primary School - Not big enough, a suitable access could not be provided and there would be a high level of disturbance to local residents during construction.
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Hillside Primary School - A suitable access could not be provided, limited car parking and demolition of buildings worthy of retention.
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Recreation Centre Site - Big enough, better accessibility, albeit some public transport improvements will need to be made and good access to the town centre.
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Cwm Avon Fields - There were access issues, at the time of assessment, the land was not available for development due to potential transportation plans and the impact on the historical landscape would be significant.
Why does the recent site evaluation carried out and recommending the Recreation centre site (which has a covenant on it) as the only site suitable for a school differ from the study the council carried out 3 years ago?
The most recent study was carried out by architects and urban design planners, working in conjunction with all Council departments; importantly, our transportation and highways officers believe that the road system to and around the Hillside school site is not as suitable as that to and around the recreation centre site, for the much higher volume of traffic that a combined school (with or without other facilities) would require.
The covenant, which applies to land upon which the swimming pool is built, would be complied with or agreed with the Trustees or their representatives.
The fact that the site study recommends the Recreation ground as the most suitable site for a new school is not the reason why the leisure centre and pool were closed. Even if other sites were suitable the Council would still need to consider release of the £430k operating costs, since this is a way in which we can raise £4m to meet other priorities.
How can the Hillside site be unsuitable for building a school due to access problems, yet be suitable to release for house and apartment development? Why was the 2005 consultancy report which had Hillside as the preferred site for a new school not presented for the attention of a full council meeting?
The site study to which we have referred is a preliminary stage of planning work, to which various Council officers have both contributed and responded. As part of this the initial view of our Highways team, who at a later stage will need to be involved in any formal planning applications, is that the access roads in and around the Hillside school site would be unsuitable to handle volume, type and frequency of mixed campus and school related travel for a 420-place [now 450-place] school with nursery provision which by its nature is much more intensive than the lower levels of domestic travel that would be associated with Extra Care housing and a relatively small number of residential units. Essentially, the travel impacts for the two different types of use are very different. In addition, the fact that the existing school has to be in situ until a new school is completed makes the site unsuitable for developing a campus type approach. It appears that CADW may object to the existing school being demolished but this would not preclude it from being converted for extra care or affordable housing.
Sewage works require upgrading within Blaeanvon, and currently no further housing development is recommended until this happens. How can all this disposal of surplus land for housing be proposed within the new development without first carrying out major sewage reconstruction?
The further housing development that is envisaged will have to go through the same formal planning process as the proposed school and other possible developments. As such it may well be that utilities and services will need to be put in place to enable these to happen, and developers would need to contribute to, if not meet entirely, the cost of such upgrading. Since these developments may not happen until after the school development, there is sufficient time to ensure that an adequate infrastructure is put in place.
Have the covenants been lifted?
There is a covenant that covers the recreation site but not the land where the recreation centre once stood. The covenant says "The Council hereby covenants with the Donors that they the Council will for as long as the said premises are used as a Recreation Ground fully and properly maintain and upkeep them as such with their attendant or usual facilities and that they shall at no time change the use of the said premises unless such change of use be for the greater interest of the inhabitants of the urban District within which the premises lie and is previously approved by the Planning Authority for the time being".
Torfaen County Borough Council (and Torfaen Local Health Board) believe that the campus clearly represents a change of use for the greater interest of the residents of the town. In addition, new leisure facilities and a multi use games area will be provided, and the whole scheme will only go ahead if planning approval is granted. Therefore, it is considered that the covenant will be satisfied. The covenant can only be 'lifted' if the original donors agree that it can be removed, however, it does not need to be removed if the council is satisfied that the new scheme complies with the covenant
As there is a limited amount of money to be spent should it not be shared equally in all areas of the Borough?
The idea of sharing limited resources equally in all areas of the Borough is one which would lead to both inefficiencies and unmet need, since it implies that an area with 6,000 people requires the same level of provision as one nearly 10 times larger. The Council believes that a better approach is to try and base what we provide on an assessment of need and then, because resources are, as is acknowledged, limited, to prioritise spending across these needs. This means that increasingly the Council is facing difficult choices about what these priorities actually are and the Corporate Plan (together with lots of policy documents from Welsh Assembly Government) make it clear that prioritising education is one of the best long term investments that we can make.
With reference to the various funding options outlined for the new developments within Blaenavon, can the council tell me when the application for the funding was submitted?
A policy position on the potential developments in Blaenavon is subject to an initial policy decision at Council. However, subject to that the funding package envisaged breaks down into 3 distinct parts:
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Capital funding – no formal application is needed in respect of allocation of the Council’s own capital fund, this funding source will be determined as part of the Council’s Capital Programme.
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Prudential Borrowing – this is effectively a mortgage style arrangement and would be subject to a formal Council decision, and, if agreed, be funded from the General Fund.
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Grant funding – the likely source of the major element of grant funding is the Heads of the Valleys Programme. Torfaen is actively represented on the Programme Management Board and has been encouraged by initial discussions on the possibility of significant funding, particularly if the proposed development is innovative If this element of funding was not available or scaled back, then proposals would be adjusted accordingly.
How many houses are being built on the site?
There are no plans to build houses on the recreation site because it will be fully taken up by the health and leisure facilities and the school. The only area that would be suitable for housing on this site would be the small parcel of land between the houses on Llanover Road but there are currently no plans to place any houses there.
When will the work be starting on site?
The development of the school and leisure elements will start in the Summer of 2010 for an early 2012 opening. The health centre will hopefully start toward the end of 2010 with an early 2012 opening.
When will there be plans for the public to see?
Detailed plans of the school/leisure element are available to view at the Planning Department. Some plans are available for viewing on this website - see community updates/new school section. Details of where the detailed plans for the health centre can be viewed will be added to the website when they are available.
What public consultation will there be?
Torfaen Local Health Board has consulted on the medical services to be provided from the campus. Consultation on the leisure provision was undertaken in early 2009. Statutory consultation on the proposal to merge the schools was undertaken in 2009. Planning consultation for the outline application was undertaken in 2009. Planning consultation on the reserved matters for the school/leisure element was undertaken in early 2010. Further consultation will be undertaken on the planning application for the health centre and on the re-location of the playground.
Why do Blaenavon Blues AFC have to move and how much are they benefiting?
Blaenavon Blues Senior sides currently play on the co-op field on the recreation site. The land is needed to build the new leisure and school provision and the Council therefore needs to relocate them. The Club as a whole has agreed that the seniors should be relocated to the Harlequins pitch on the Dragon Fields. The pitch and changing rooms will need to be upgraded to match what they are losing on the co-op field. Moving the seniors to this pitch will also displace the junior sides so the disused cricket pitch will be developed for the junior sides. The team will continue to use the Middle pitch. The Blues are not being given money by the Council but the Council does have a statutory obligation to relocate the senior side. The Blues have been very positive and see the relocation as an opportunity to pursue their aim of having the whole Club on one site and having sufficient playing fields to enable the players to train and play within the town.