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New unveiling for £32m school
A NEW vision for the biggest ever investment in a North Yorkshire school will be unveiled next week.
The 32m transformation of Richmond School has been hit by setbacks after it emerged at the end of last year that the scheme was likely to go over budget by almost a fifth.
The landmark development is seen as key to boosting education throughout North Yorkshire as it is hoped that the project will pave the way for more multi-million pound funding from the Government for schools elsewhere in the county.
But North Yorkshire County Council's education directors have had to remodel the proposals to ensure the development, which is the first new secondary school to be built in the county since the 1970s, comes within the 32m budget.
While work has already begun on building a new sports hall and transforming an existing Grade II listed building into a sixth-form centre, the second and final phase of work has been pushed back by 12 months and is expected to be completed by September 2010.
Richmond county councillor Stuart Parsons, who was the deputy head boy at the school before he left in 1978, claimed that there should have been more planning in the initial stages to ensure financial budgets were not breached.
He said: "It has been appalling for pupils and their families. Everyone's hopes had been built up, only to find out that the scheme has been hit by delays.
"We have lost a year because of the setbacks, and the new school in Richmond is needed now.
"But it is not just the county council, there seems to be a problem nationally in both local and central government. There needs to be more thinking before acting to avoid the problems with going over budget."
Richmond School was selected for the massive redevelopment under the Government's Building Schools for the Future initiative because it is currently operating from two sites.
The main campus is situated on Darlington Road, although Year Seven pupils have to travel a mile to another site in the town centre for some classes, meaning that 16 per cent of teaching time is being lost.
The initial plans were heavily influenced by green principles, and environmentally-friendly elements have had to be remodelled to curb costs.
A system to use heat from the ground to warm the school has been ditched, and initial proposals for 11 wind turbines are due to be reduced.
But a bigger biomass boiler is planned to ensure that the development's green credentials are not undermined. A series of buildings are now due to be replaced with a single new block, although a grass roof is expected to remain.
The strategic planning manager for North Yorkshire County Council's children and young people's service, Suzanne Firth, said: "It is a massive chance to try to obtain more Government investment to improve education throughout the whole county, and we are confident of creating an excellent school in Richmond despite the setbacks."
While the county council has not confirmed the exact projected overspend because the contract is commercially sensitive, it is understood to be in the region of 18 per cent.
The second phase of work will create a new block linked by a glass corridor to an existing building, which is undergoing major renovations.
Mrs Firth claimed that while work on the second phase could have been completed ahead of September 2010, the timetable changed to prevent disruption to pupils and escalating costs on temporary classrooms.
The new sixth-form is expected to be finished in February next year, while the sports hall is due to be completed by May.
Contractors from Shepherd's Construction started work last autumn, although problems with the projected overspend emerged in December.
An open evening to showcase the re-design is being staged at Richmond School by the architects, Atkins, at 6.30pm on Thursday next week. Further events are planned for when the school re-opens in September.
Once the public consultation has been completed, the revised proposals will be submitted for planning approval.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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