Building starts for new Silsden Primary School – May 2019

From Keighley News 11 April 2019

UPDATE – THE START DATE HAS BEEN DELAYED – EXPECTED DATE IS NOW JUNE/JULY

Building work will begin on the new Silsden Primary School during the first week of May.

The 62-week construction project is expected to be completed in July 2020 in time for the new school year beginning in September.

News of the work was revealed this week by district and town councillor Rebecca Whitaker after she was briefed by an officer from Bradford Council’s Architectural Services department.

She told the Keighley News that the officer confirmed to her the proposed contract start date was May 7, with “projected practical completion” on July 24 next year.

The new school campus is due to be built to the north-east of Silsden, on fields off Hawber Cote Lane above Silsden Park.

It will provide space for 640 children, including pupils of the existing Silsden Primary School who currently take lessons in the overcrowded former Aire View Infant School and Hothfield Junior School buildings.

The new school will initially be a three-form entry, including a nursery, with a “future-proof” design with enough room for a fourth form.

A public footpath running east-west through the site will be diverted to safeguard pupils.

The arrangements for vehicle access to and from the school prompted concerns from both local residents and politicians including Keighley MP John Grogan.

They feared a massive influx of parents’ vehicles in a residential area, with knock-on effects for pedestrian safety, on-street parking, and congestion as vehicles tried to exit on to busy Howden Road and Bolton Road.

Cllr Whitaker, who serves on Bradford and Silsden councils, this week welcomed news of the construction start date but said she remained very concerned about access once the school was built.

She said: “This issue has been raised many times by residents and was discussed again at the highway committee of Silsden Town Council in March.

“Whilst it is to be encouraged that parents should try to walk their children to school where possible, this is not always practical. Bradford Council’s own data shows there will be a significant increase in cars used by parents driving their children to school.

“I am concerned about the cars which will be turning right, across the oncoming traffic, at the substandard junctions of Dale View and Banklands. There will also be substantial delays at Clog Bridge as traffic tries to get back out into Kirkgate.”

Cllr Whitaker said she had been corresponding with Bradford Council over her concerns, which also included the potential steepness of the school access road.

She recently received a response from the Education Client Services.

A Senior Project Manager told her a suitable gradient of a road – “as per the current road layout” – could be achieved within the school site.

The officer also confirmed that the council would be able to fulfil highways conditions and specifications specified in the planning approval, regarding issues such as street lighting and speed reduction measures.

Plans for the new 640-pupil primary school in Silsden were approved by Bradford Council in June last year ahead despite the concerns over potential traffic problems.

At the council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee, Councillor Whitaker requested the committee defer the application until a full traffic assessment had been carried out.

At the time she said: “The highways consultation report itself describes the two junctions into Bolton Road as being ‘substandard’ and of there ‘being no realistic measures that could be implemented to improve visibility at these junctions’.”

She added that highways advice had not “seriously addressed” the issues raised.

However, a council officer said a full assessment had been carried out and accident statistics for the junctions had been looked at, which showed there had been two slight incidents, but nothing major.

Proposed traffic measures included a 20mph speed limit in nearby streets, plateaus at junctions along Howden Road, on-street parking bans in places, and a new Puffin crossing at Bolton Road.

Plans for the new Silsden Primary School were unveiled in 2017 after an extensive search for a suitable site for a new school to relieve overcrowding at the existing schools.

Bradford Council was this week approached for a comment on the proposed start date.