"If they can get away with it, there will be more loss of greenbelt land, which is our heritage, and it is only the public which will oppose this loss"

Well put by Mr. ME Lewington in a letter to the Maidenhead Advertiser this week.

"If they can get away with it, there will be more loss of greenbelt land, which is our heritage, and it is only the public which will oppose this loss."

Plans for new Nature Centre to be built on Braywick Park

The new Braywick Court School will be on the site formerly occupied by Winbury School.

When it was operated as Winbury School there were 86 pupils.

Braywick Court School aim to have 210 (by 2020). RBWM Council have approved this already. Without public consultation.

In order to accommodate this (almost 2.5 times the original size) expansion the School/Council want to take over the existing Nature Centre buildings, and build a new one, right in the middle of Braywick Park. 

They also want to build a large 2 storey extension/development on the existing Winbury site - not in keeping with the existing architecture, most of which is on PUBLIC OPEN SPACE.

There will be no additional parking (at least they're not trying to build a bigger car park too!), despite the School now being for 210 pupils compared to 86 previously. 

Not cool.

See the rest of the plans here: http://www.braywickcourtschool.co.uk/location/

Braywick Court School Lease Agreement with RBWM

http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/minsys3.nsf/d9c360870262e3708025765d004cf06a/a378e65b2b08ce6380257b1a00508417/$FILE/meetings_140327_cab_braywick_lease_full.pdf

This is the summary below - but link to full document above. 

Drawings show the initial intended location for the Nature Centre, different from what has now been proposed. (Both involve building out onto Braywick Park to allow the School to operate at 2.5 times the capacity it originally was as Winbury - as they plan to take over the existing Nature Centre & put them into a smaller building, actually built on the Park itself!)

The council are promoting the school on the basis it is paid for by central DFE funds so costs the local council very little compared to, say, the Oldfield School Expansion. (Which they ended up in in what could be a similar situation here, RBWM giving permission for the school to expand, and accepting double-sized year groups etc, before securing planning permission for the new site - putting pressure on themselves to grant themselves planning permission despite local's concerns.)

And why the desperate need for more school places? Allowing overdevelopment in the area?

Title	Braywick Court School Lease
Responsible Officer(s)	David Scott Head of Education Strategy and Commissioning Mark Shephard Development and Property Manager
Contact officer, job title and phone number	Ann Pfeiffer Service Leader –Sufficiency and Access 01628 796364 Richard Harris Property Services 01628 796084
Member reporting	Cllr Phillip Bicknell Lead Member for Children’s Services Cllr MJ Saunders Lead Member for Planning & Property Services (including Maidenhead)
For Consideration By	Cabinet
Date to be Considered	27 March 2014
Implementation Date if Not Called In	Immediately
Affected Wards	Bray
Keywords/Index	Free school, Braywick, lease

Report Summary

1. The report recommends that an agreement to lease, two leases and a licence be granted to Bellevue Place Education Trust for a new primary school, to be called Braywick Court School.
   
2. The leases cover two sites – the former Winbury School plus adjacent classroom and land, and the Braywick Nature Centre and surrounding areas. The licence will permit limited use of the Braywick Park car park for staff parking and pupil drop off.
   
3. The Bellevue Place Education Trust will use the sites for a new Free school to be known as Braywick Court School.
   
4. The Braywick Court School will open in September 2014 in the former Winbury school site. Once a new Nature Centre has been built elsewhere in the park - if planning permission is secured – the Free school will expand into the current Braywick Nature Centre space.
   
5. The Braywick Nature Centre will be replaced by a new building – to be funded by the Education Funding Agency. The amount to be capped at £400k.
   
6. If approved, the key financial implications for the Council are that the former Winbury School and the Braywick Nature Centre will be leased to Bellevue Place Education Trust for a term of 125 years at a peppercorn rent, in accordance with DfE expectations, and a licence fee will be paid for the use of
   

   Braywick Park car park.

7. This report to cabinet is considered necessary for the following reasons: a. The recommendations include disposals of council property for 125 year term which restrict the council’s future use of the site. Disposals are at under value,as the proposed leases are at peppercorn rent. Disposal of public open space and the fact that if this land is counted by the DfE as playing field either now or in the future, it could fall under the legislative protection afforded to playing fields which may restrict the council’s future use of this part of the site. The potential,although unlikely,shortfall of in capital funding for the new nature centre.
If recommendations are adopted, how will residents benefit?
Benefits to residents and reasons why they will benefit	Dates by which residents can expect to notice a difference
1. An additional school,adding to the diversity of provision and number of school places. 2. A brand new building for the BraywickNatureCentre	September 2014 September 2015