Arden Academy Questionnaire
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In response to the Draft Local Plan Review I would like to make two comments:

1. I want to highlight the need to take advantage of once in a lifetime opportunity to create a decent new, fit for purpose, secondary school (a relocated Arden Academy) with appropriate facilities and accommodation plus the significant benefits for the community in terms of potential facilities such as a swimming pool, theatre, youth club etc, which benefit beyond the school and to the whole community.

I do not feel that the KDBH response to the planning proposal for site 9 is reflective at all of many people's support for the new school proposal.

However, I think 750 houses is too much when my understanding was that 450 were required to fund the new school and facilities, which is still a considerable amount of additional housing.

2. There is also a need for an increase in primary education, as proposed in Items 4, 8 and 9.

This directly impacts on the education of my children at St George & St Teresa RC School and I request this to be considered in the planning of this provision going forward.

During recent years local development has been substantial and whilst Local Authority School in the area have been increased to meet demand St George & St Teresa has not.

The school site and building is not fit for purpose and cannot meet demand for places. It is unsustainable to have a one form entry school with modern funding and curriculum requirements and if the school is not supported to expand it will struggle, ultimately to the detriment if the whole community.

Currently , the school is oversubscribed and with additional housing in its catchment (including beyond Dorridge, Knowle and Bentley Heath, the school has been forced to exclude children in parish, catchment and with siblings in our school which is an unacceptable burden on the human right to family life.

The size of our catchment area to include new developments at Balsall Common, Hockley Heath
and additional potential impact from Blythe Valley, as well as Knowle & Dorridge demonstrates
a need which should be addressed.

The ideal location for a new two form St George and St Teresa school would be on site 9 as more playground space would be available, compared with the very cramped current site which I believe is already too small for the number of children attending the school and it would be inappropriate to increase the school to 2 form entry without extending the grounds.

This is especially so compared to the extremely generous grounds occupied by Dorridge Infant and Junior School, the top parts of the field which adjoin St George and St Teresa's are never used and surplus to Dorridge school's requirements.

So, as an alternative, a proportion of Dorridge school's ground, currently assigned (and under occupied by Dorridge school) could be reallocated to St George and St Teresa's for new development.