Moorside High School and Moorside Primary School

News - September 2011

Construction work has now begun on the new Moorside High School and Moorside Primary School. The computer generated images below illustrate what the new building will look like.

Computer generated image of the new school

A list of frequently asked questions has been compiled in order to provide information about the new school.

What has changed since the decision that The Swinton High School should become an academy?
The Swinton High School has now become an academy, which is a publicly funded school managed independently of the local authority. It will therefore no longer be part of the BSF programme. As a result it has been decided that the new building will house Moorside High School, at its current size of 1,050 pupils, and Moorside Primary School, which will be increased in size to 630 places (three forms of entry). This is a reduction in the total number of pupils compared to previous proposals. It has also resulted in a slightly reduced footprint to the building. In addition, as previously agreed following consultation with residents:

The height of the proposed building has been reduced to part three, part two stories
The distance between the proposed building and neighbouring houses has been increased
The main vehicle access road will be taken from the A580 East Lancs Road and not Deans Road

Where would the main vehicle access be for the site?
We have now secured funding to construct an access point to the site from the East Lancs Road. This will be the main point of access for vehicles and construction traffic. In the new design Holdsworth Street will not be the main vehicular access for the primary school. Staff and others will be expected to use the main car park off the A580 road.

Will Westbrook Road and Deans Road be used as entrance/exit routes?
There will be some very limited parking for visitors at the Deans Road entrance, but this entrance will be the main pedestrian entrance. We have listened to residents views about a possible entrance from Westbrook Road. This is only proposed as a pedestrian entrance which could be locked as required. This will be an issue for the school to manage once it is operational. The school have been made aware of residents fears that this could become a drop off point causing traffic congestion in the area. The school will have to develop a travel plan prior to opening the new building which will address this and a range of other issues. The local authority and school are committed to working with residents on this issue.

Will on-site parking be provided?
Car and cycle parking will be predominantly provided on the site of the new school close to the entrance from the East Lancs Road. Some parking will also be provided on the site south of the East Lancs Road for staff travelling out of Manchester. Parking will be provided to meet both the needs of the school and satisfy planning policy requirements.

Where will parents park?
Our records show that the vast majority of pupils who attend Moorside High School currently walk to school and it is expected that these healthy and sustainable travel patterns will continue at the new school. Generous levels of high quality cycle parking will be provided. Work will take place with the highways section of the council to identify and address issues prior to the opening of the school. At other BSF schools, this has resulted in substantial works taking place to address traffic and parking issues.

Will the one-way system on Deans Road be opened up to two-way traffic?
There are no plans to change this. However further work will be conducted to address any highways issues surrounding the site.

Will access for emergency service vehicles, particularly ambulances, be taken into account due to the high population of elderly residents in the Holdsworth and Perth Street areas?
The proposals have been carefully scrutinised by the council’s highway engineers as part of the planning application process. Further work will take place to identify in detail any additional traffic regulation measures required. However, locating almost all the car parking for the school at the entrance from the East Lancs Road should reduce parking issues in this area.

Why does the school need to go on Moorside playing fields?
There is a need to replace Moorside High school and this is the only available site in the area capable of accommodating a new secondary school of this size.

Where will the new school go on the site?
A proposed site plan, which can be downloaded below, is now available to view. After taking into account residents’ views from consultation meetings, the location of the school building has been carefully selected to make the best use of the site, although we are restricted by various features and constraints. The building will be sited on the northern half of the existing playing fields below the mill pond and adjacent to the woodland. The building will be at least 30 metres away from the site boundary.

It will therefore be even further away from neighbouring houses. The building will be a mixture of two and three stories with a two story section on the part of the building which is closest to neighbouring properties. This solution enables the sport's pitches to be retained, makes best use of existing landscape features and ensures residential amenity is protected. Site surveys have been undertaken to check that this solution can be delivered.

What times of day will the building be open?
The building will be open for the use of the school between 7.00am and 6.00pm, although the actual school opening times will be decided by the governing body. The school will also be open for use by the community in the evenings and weekends. This will depend on how much the building is in demand from community groups, etc. It is likely that there will be planning restrictions on, for instance, the use of floodlights on the all weather pitch, which will effectively restrict the hours during which the external areas can be used during the evenings.

Who will be responsible for the maintenance and security of the building?
The building is being built as part of the private finance initiative. This means that the council's private sector partner will be responsible for all aspects of the building’s maintenance and security for the next 25 years. They will work closely with the leadership of the school to ensure the smooth running of the building. The school will be responsible for the learning, welfare and behaviour of the students.

Will the Deans Activity Centre be retained on the site, particularly given that it is a locally listed building?
Planning permission has been granted which includes the demolition of the existing youth centre, the new scheme will also include the replacement of the Deans Youth and Activity Centre and this will open at the same time as the school facilities in September 2013.

What will happen to the pond and woodland?
Both the pond and woodland are owned by the council. As part of the development they will be fully incorporated into the site and used by the school. During the construction period they will not be accessible to the public due to health and safety reasons. Once the school is open it is planned that the there will be controlled access for the public to use these parts of the site for recreational purposes. The security of the area will therefore be considerably improved.

Will school buses be provided for the new school?
The vast majority of students at Moorside High School live within walking distance of the school. The school will have to develop a sustainable travel plan which will continue to support the current healthy and sustainable travel patterns. Therefore no dedicated school bus services are currently being planned. Nonetheless, the need for school buses would be continually assessed as part of the school travel plan review processes.

What will happen to the land when Moorside High School and Moorside Primary School move into the new building?
We are proposing to keep the existing site of Moorside High School as part of the new school and to use it for sporting facilities and a small amount of car parking. The primary school will be part of the new site.

How will you ensure that disruption to residents is kept to a minimum once the construction work starts?
The contractor for the scheme is Laing O’Rourke Construction (North). They have already been part of the consultation which has taken place with residents and this will continue before work on site begins in earnest. A residents' liaison group will be set up so that regular meetings can take place once the project is underway. This will allow issues and questions to be raised and for residents to be informed of developments.

There will be a website keeping people informed and a phone number to call if there are any issues which need to be addressed urgently. Every effort will be made to minimise the impact on residents, but this is a large project and some disruption to normal life is unfortunately inevitable. However. once the new access road from the East Lancs Road is constructed all construction traffic will enter and exit the site via this route, minimising disruption and noise. There will be further consultation with residents regarding boundary treatments such as fencing or planting, in order to put in place arrangements which are satisfactory to as many people as possible.

Who do I contact if I have questions about activity on the site?
If you have any questions about activity on the site, please consult the website of the Local Education Partnership or contact:

Nin Khoshaba
Project Liaison Officer
Laing O’Rourke Construction North
Archway 3
Birley Fields
Greenheys Lane West
Hulme
Manchester
M15 5QJ

Telephone: 0161 227 6100
Email: nkhoshaba@laingorourke.com